Crash Into Me
by H.A.Lestrange
Summary: AU. Rachel works for her uncle's garage. Quinn crashes her mother's Lexus one night. Eventual Faberry.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I haven't done this in a while. I'm rusty all over. Unbeta'd so everything is mea culpa.**

**A/N2: Not mine. Don't sue.**

**A/N3: AU; both seasons are fair game. Spoilers are unintentional.**

**A/N4: Reviews are always welcome. Please feed me. ;p**

*o*o*o*

"One month—that's final."

Quinn Fabray let her jaw drop. Sure, she might have charged a little over 500 dollars on her mother's credit card that last time around. And maybe—_maybe_- it was a little too much money to spend on clothes she'd probably never get to wear… but to be grounded for a month just because of that? _Four weeks?_ She's determined her mother desperately needed to remove whatever stick she has up her—

"And stop giving me that look—unless you want to be grounded well into the new school term."

Quinn narrowed her hazel briefly at the woman who was matching her glare behind the mug she had up against her lips.

With a silent huff, Quinn decided to shift her demeanor and try a different approach.

"Mom," she began slowly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear "don't you think you might be over-reacting for just a tiny, little bit-"

Setting her mug down, Judy Fabray raised a fair eyebrow at her daughter and gestured to the credit card bill on the table to her left.

"Forgive me, Quinn, for _over-reacting_ at finding out you just spent 567 dollars on clothes," she raised her eyebrow higher, "in _one_ afternoon."

"But I really needed a new wardrobe for the new term! And the dresses were just so adorable they were begging to be bought! And a lot of those tops were actually on sale…"

Judy stood to place her mug in the sink before turning around to face her daughter with her hands on her hips.

"I'm sure the clothes were lovely, sweetie" she tried to soften the blow, "and you know I'd never stop you from buying anything that will remotely make you happy, but 600 dollars-"

"Five hundred sixty-six and thirty-nine cents."

The woman sighed and walked over to the sulking girl. "It's still little too much, Quinnie."

"I'm not going to stop you from enjoying your new purchases," she started walking out of the kitchen "as long as you're home within two hours immediately after school is out for the next four weeks."

Quinn threw her arms up in defeat and plopped herself on the chair vacated by her mother.

"What about Cheerios practice?" she called out.

"Figure it out," came the reply from the living room.

"Ugh!"

With brows furrowed, Quinn took her phone out from her jean pocket and furiously typed in a text message.

**To S. Lopez: **_**The next weeks will suck. Call me. **_

A few seconds later, her phone beeped with a new message.

**From S. Lopez: **_**Can't ryt nw, q. Haha sucks 2 b ya!**_

*o*o*o*

Quinn slung her backpack over her shoulder as she stepped out of her mother's Lexus the next morning, a Thursday. She was still set on giving the woman the silent treatment after being subjected to such unfair punishment. She was not in the mood for the pleasantry of goodbyes and wished for the fifteenth time that morning (and ninety-sixth that month) that her car wasn't in the shop.

"Have a good day, honey! Be home by six." She heard her mother say before driving away.

"Wonderful morning, isn't it?"

Growling, she turned to her left to glare at the Latina who had fallen in step beside her. Biting back a retort (because maybe Santana deserves the silent treatment as well) she put her bitch face on and began walking towards the front steps of McKinley High. A minute later, they were joined by a bubbly blonde who pecked the brunette on the cheek before moving to Quinn's other side.

*o*o*o*

"Ok, take five!"

Quinn took a moment to try and catch her breath as the rest of the cheerleading squad dispersed to take the much needed break.

Santana, wiping her brow with a small towel, walked over and handed her a bottled water. Smirking her thanks, Quinn took the offered drink and eagerly took a swig.

"Heads up!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn saw a Frisbee in the air which landed on the field and rolled to a few feet away from them. She glanced at the disc on the ground for a second before taking another sip from the plastic bottle.

"Hey, a little help please!"

She heard Santana chuckle next to her. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

Making a show of pointedly ignoring the toy on the ground and the obnoxious voice that called for help, Quinn screwed the bottle's cap back on and turned to walk towards the rest of the squad milling around.

"Hey! _Hey!_"

A beat later, she heard the pound of feet on the grass.

"You didn't have to be such a bitch about it." The voice came a few feet behind her from where she knew the Frisbee had stopped rolling.

Putting her hands on her hips, Quinn slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice.

Rachel Berry, stooping down to pick up the disc, was shooting her a haughty glare. Raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, she returned the glare as she sauntered over to the shorter girl.

"What did you just call me?" she hissed as soon as she was within two feet away from the other girl.

Rachel straightened her back, still clutching the disc in one hand, and met her stare. "I said you didn't have to be such a _bitch,_" she replied, enunciating the last word. "I was merely asking for your assistance and there was no need to-"

Quinn raised her hand up, palm facing forward. "I don't wanna hear it coz I don't really care," she took another menacing step closer. Behind her, Santana did the same.

Rachel's eyes flicked swiftly between the two girls as she obviously valiantly tried to keep up a courageous front. "Y-you—I'm not intimidated by…"

"Then you better be, if you know what's good for you, Treasure Trail." Quinn was now up in her face. "You don't get to call me names and expect to get away with-"

"What's holding you up, Rach?"

Quinn glanced up to see Sam Evans jogging up to them and she immediately softened her stance. She hadn't noticed he was even around until then.

With his floppy blond hair, blue eyes, and lopsided smile, Sam was an instant heartthrob the moment he first set foot in the school at the beginning of the term two weeks ago. He was immediately in Quinn's radar after she chanced upon him doing some laps around the field _shirtless_. He was trying out for the football team that day and since then was pegged to be starting quarterback, much to Quinn's delight. In her mind, he was suiting up to be an excellent replacement for Finn Hudson, whom he she had broken up with last year after he decided to quit football to focus on that stupid Glee club-the stupid Glee club which is also captained by the repulsive girl standing before her at the moment. And who, apparently—_horrifically_, is also on friendly terms with her Golden Boy.

"Hi Sam," Quinn greeted him brightly, fluttering her eyelashes, "I didn't see you there."

Sam stopped beside the short girl and took the disc from her.

"Oh, hey Quinn," he flashed her a charming smile. "You look really nice today."

From her periphery, Quinn saw Rachel roll her eyes. Deciding to let this one go, she focused on Sam instead, flashing him a shy smile of her own.

"So, Sam, will you be at Puck's party on tomorrow night?"

The boy briefly glanced at Rachel before shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe," he ran a hand through his hair, "will you be there?"

At this, Quinn coyly bit her lip and looked at him from beneath lowered lashes, "Maybe."

She flashed him one last smile before twirling around to sashay away.

"So, um, I'll see you there?"

She heard him call out before she distinctly heard Rachel mock him.

"_Will you be there?_ Really?"

*o*o*o*

Quinn was walking towards the parking lot with Santana and Brittany an hour later when she heard raucous laughter from a distance. Placing her WMHS backpack in the trunk of Santana's car, she found herself watching a group of kids across the lot.

Two boys she recognized from the football team—Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford—were laughing and exchanging high-fives with Sam as they sat on a metal railing. In front of them, Rachel was dribbling a basketball between her legs, obviously trying to keep Finn from stealing it. She watched as Finn, crouched low, lunged and tried to swipe the ball away from the short brunette. Rachel, in a surprisingly agile move, twisted her upper body to the right to evade Finn's arm, and swung her right arm to bounce the ball behind her back to her left side. There was a chorus of loud whooping as the other boys cheered in appreciation of her move.

"I didn't know Berry was so good with balls."

Quinn looked over her shoulder at Santana who was helping Brittany put her bag in the trunk.

"Takes to have one to be good with one."

"I'm not even sure that's how that goes."

Huffing, Quinn opened the car door and stepped in the car. Settling in the plush leather backseat, she looked out the window in time to see Finn wrap his arms around Rachel's waist from behind and lift her off the ground. She pretended (of course) not to notice the hem of the other girl's shirt ride up to expose a line of skin as the said girl laughed uproariously and tried to wriggle away from the hunkering boy.

"She's such a flirt."

"Who? Rachel?"

Quinn, surprised at Brittany's question, realized she must have said that last one out loud and turned away from the window.

"One moment she's a tranny, then she's a whore in the next" Santana met her eyes in the rear view mirror. "Make up your mind, Fabray."

She glowered at her before snapping, "It's the same bloody thing. She's disgusting."

"I like Rachel," Brittany chirped from the front seat.

She's honestly tired of all this Rachel talk already.

"Whatever." She deliberately changed the subject. "So what time are you picking me up tomorrow night?"

*o*o*o*

"What do you mean you can't pick me up?"

"Sheesh! Shatter my eardrums, why dontcha, Fabray?" Quinn heard Santana's over the phone. "I told you it wasn't my fault. Mama needed the car tonight. I was lucky Puck was able to swing by to pick me and Britt up,"

"But what about me?"

"Relax, Fabray. Whining doesn't suit you. I'll try to figure something out. Maybe I can get one of the guys to pick you up."

Quinn stomped her 3-inch heeled foot and let out a loud screech of frustration. She was thankful she had the house to herself, her mother having been summoned for an emergency meeting in Chicago the day before.

Her night was not turning out too well. She's all high strung enough as it is. She knew she was risking a lot by sneaking out for the party when she was still decidedly grounded (_You better be sticking to the rules while I'm out of town, Quinnie. I don't want to have to ground you for an extended period of time._), thank you very much.

The party at Puck's was the first big party of the term and she just _had_ to be there. Also, Sam had said he'd be there (Ok, so he said _maybe_ he'd be there. But after yesterday's flirt-fest, she was sure he'd be stupid to not show up.) Frustration welled up in her as she glanced at herself in her full-length mirror. She was wearing one of the tops and skirts she bought during her spending spree and she knew she looked to damn good not to be seen in them tonight. She had to get her delicious ass out of that house and get to that party—even if it meant… stealing… a… neighbor's…car…

She hurried downstairs to the kitchen, opened the first cupboard, and eyed the Lexus key hanging from a hook inside.

"Santana," she bit her lip as she reached into the cupboard, "don't start the party without me."

*o*o*o*

It was around 10:15 when she felt her phone vibrate from inside her purse.

Quinn was in the middle of a very stimulating conversation with Sam about some elf who was looking for some Princess Zaldy or something. She hadn't planned on being this close to being bored to tears when she made her grand entrance into the party. She recalled opening Puck's front door with a flourish, basking in the adoring (and lustful) looks of everyone in the room, Britt and Santana walking up to her sides, the crowd parting as they made their way through, spotting Sam from across the room, giving him a come-hither smile, and coyly avoiding him the whole night. He finally cornered her in the kitchen with a breathless smile on his lips. They got to talking and three minutes into it, she was tuning him out. She was beyond relief for the offered distraction.

She touched his arm lightly, pulled her phone out and gave him an apologetic look.

"Do you mind if I take this?" She asked, gesturing to her phone in her hand.

"No, no of course not," he shook his head as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks," she smiled brightly, "I'll be right back."

As she turned away from the boy, Quinn glanced down at her phone to check the caller ID.

**Calling – Mom**

*o*o*o*

"Yes, ok, ok mom. Just—yeah, I'm in the shower. Give me another half hour and I'll log in to your laptop. What?... Have I eaten? Yeah, yeah… What? Have I locked the d—Yeah, I've locked up. What? Am I repeating everything? No I'm not repeating everything… What? My ears are fine… Yeah. Ok. Just—just… What? Thirty minutes? Ok. Ok, then. Yeah…bye!"

Quinn flung open Puck's bedroom door and clutched her phone to her chest, feeling her heart hammering through the soft fabric of her top.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…"

*o*o*o*

Quinn tapped her finger against the steering wheel impatiently as she willed the light to change.

_This cannot be happening… This cannot be happening… Damn light! Change already!_

She glanced at the illuminated time on the dashboard.

**10:27**

She wondered briefly how long she had been stuck at this intersection. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she counted down the minutes she had left before her mom calls her back.

Eighteen minutes.

_Five blocks… I should be home in 10, up the stairs in 5, ok, ok… It's gonna be ok._

She gave a whoop when the light finally turned green. The vehicle in front of her, a Jeep, however, was taking its sweet time. Grumbling to herself, she released the handbrake and glared at the other vehicle through the windshield. The Jeep's brake lights blinked off as it accelerated slowly.

_Come on!_

When the Jeep had moved a few feet, Quinn pressed on the gas pedal. She unfortunately underestimated the Lexus' power and she realized this a second too late when she felt the 4x4 lurch forward.

She heard the sickening crunch of metal against metal seconds before she felt her heart jump to her throat.

"OH HELL! FUCK!"

Quinn pulled at her hair at the realization that she just crashed her mother's beloved Lexus.

She was not aware of how much more horror was in store for her until she noticed the door of the Jeep fly open and Rachel Berry stepped out.

*o*o*o*


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm worried this chapter might be a little bit dragging, but I just need to throw this in from Rachel's perspective to set the plot in motion. Still unbeta'd, forgive me.**

**A/N2: Still not mine. Don't sue.**

**A/N3: Reviews are nice. Please keep them coming.**

*o*o*o*

"Yes, I just dropped him off. Neither of you should really be drinking if you aren't capable of handling the effects of alcohol to your system."

Rachel Berry was mildly irritated. There she was waiting at the intersection if 7th and 12th at 10:30 on a Friday night, having just driven a highly inebriated Finn home, when she should have been enjoying Game Night with her fathers. She was winning a rousing game of _Mastermind _when she received Sam's distressed call a little over half an hour ago. Apparently, Finn had had one wine cooler too many and was wreaking havoc on the dance floor in Puck's living room: two jocks have had their drinks spilled on them and a senior girl was now nursing a nasty bruise on her left temple. Sam had begged, implored, _groveled_, for her to please, please, _please_ come and take Finn home.

"You still owe me one, Evans. He should have been _your _responsibility tonight. Wasn't that the purpose of the Buddy System we have meticulously devised?" she glanced at the light, and rolled her eyes at what Sam was saying on the other line.

"Well, I refuse to feel sorry for you for that unfortunate turn of events," Rachel released her hand brake as the light turned green. "Now I have to disconnect this call as the light just turned green and it will be _irresponsible _of me to drive while speaking with you on the phone."

She then dropped the call, removed the Bluetooth headset from her ear, sat straight up and checked both sides of the intersection, before slowly inching forward.

Her Jeep Wrangler had rolled a couple of feet before the she felt a _THUD!_ from the rear.

*o*o*o*

"Why were you taking so long to move, anyway? You were going at such a mind-numbingly slow pace…"

Rachel cocked her head to the side as she crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the Jeep.

When she had pulled over to the curb and had stepped out of her vehicle to check the damage to her Jeep, she was not expecting to see Quinn Fabray to stomp out from the silver Lexus that had caused the minor crash. She had already taken one glance at her rear bumper and was relieved that no permanent damage was done—nothing that she cannot fix with some paint anyway. The other vehicle's front bumper however had a six-inch dent and several ugly scratches. She smirked at the thought of her Jeep whooping a Lexus' overpriced ass and was about to open her mouth to gloat about it when Quinn started this tirade.

Quinn was still rattling on about insurance and some stick up her mother's unmentionables when she pushed herself up, turned around and started to walk back to the front of her vehicle.

"And now what am I supposed to—wait! Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," she threw over her shoulder. "You should probably get going too, Princess. It's a little too late to be out."

"Wait!"

She reached for the door handle.

"I said wait!"

She opened the door.

"Please."

Rachel paused before turning back around. Quinn was fidgeting with the hem of her flimsy top and had a torn expression on her face. Her blond hair was a little messed up, her brows furrowed, her eyes were a little glassy, and her mouth was doing an impressive impersonation of a blowfish- opening and closing as though wanting to say something but was somehow unable to. She thought the girl could not look more pathetic (adorable) even if she tried.

She took a deep breath before closing the Jeep's door. She knew she would be regretting this somewhere down the line as she started to walk back towards the rear.

"Would you like to file a police report?"

The blonde's eyes widened.

"Wh-what?"

She was now at the front of the other girl's 4x4, "I'd actually rather not." She crouched to run her fingertips along the dent on the bumper, "It would be too much of an inconvenience, to be honest. The extent of the damage would not be worth it."

"I'd much rather just get home and forget about it. Don't worry," she gave the taller girl a smirk, "I forgive you already."

"_Excuse me?_"

Rachel straightened up and looked pointedly at the blonde. "Well, of course, since _you_ hit me."

Quinn opened her mouth to obviously protest but Rachel shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"I don't know where you took your driving classes from, Quinn, but that's how it works. You are obviously at fault and the cops— should we decide to take that route—will see it that way. Besides," she glanced at the dent "I don't understand why you're unnecessarily upset over this little thing. It's not like you wrecked the vehicle beyond repair—your airbags did not even activate-"

She was shocked when the other girl was suddenly up against her, clutching at the front of her shirt.

"It- it can be fixed? Do you know anybody who can fix it? Can they fix it tonight?"

Rachel took in the wide, desperate hazel eyes inches before her and instinctively, slowly pulled her head back away from the slightly crazed (deranged) girl. She carefully pried the fingers clutching her top away with slow, deliberate movements. There was no telling how far gone the blonde already was.

Taking a step back to put some distance between them, she held her arms out to keep the other girl at bay. "Of course it can be fixed. You can take it to Burt Hummel and he'd-"

"No!"

Surprised, she watched as the head Cheerio leaned heavily against the Lexus and covered her face with her hands. Moments later, the blonde looked up at her with a defeated sigh.

"I can't take it to Burt's. My mom will eventually find out about it if I do."

Rachel raised an eyebrow as a slow, mischievous smile formed on her lips.

"Soooo," she drawled, "Mommy doesn't know you took the big, bad Lexus out tonight, does she?"

The blonde closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "No. Not really," she murmured.

Rachel could not help the smile from stretching to a full-blown grin. "Well. Somebody's in trouble."

Hazel eyes glared at her.

Rachel felt her grin stretch further- attempting to split her face in two, as she held the blonde's gaze. She was however momentarily taken aback when the other girl broke eye contact and looked down. She watched as the taller girl's features crumpled and a look of distraught swept over her face. For a fleeting moment, Rachel reluctantly felt bad for her, really; she knew how it must be like to get in trouble—not that she often finds herself in hot water, though, no, of course not.

"You know," she put her hands in her jean pockets and scuffed the ground with her shoe. "I may be acquainted with a few people who work on such things…"

Blonde wisps of hair caught the wind as the other girl whipped her head up to look at her. "You are?"

She nodded, "I've picked a few things up myself. I'm pretty sure even I can work on it without much of a problem."

Quinn hesitated for a moment before she scoffed, "You _would_ be interested in such things."

Rachel gaped at her before schooling her features into a look of incredulity. "I don't have time for this. Good luck finding a far-flung, covert shop to do the job. Goodnight, Quinn." With that, she turned back around to stomp back to her Jeep.

She hopped in the driver's seat and was about to close the door when a pale arm shot out to keep her from doing so. Turning her head to the side, she watched as Quinn forcefully swallowed before fixing her with a slightly desperate look.

"I—I didn't mean that. Ok, maybe I did-"

Rachel rolled her eyes for the nth time that night as she attempted to pull the door close. Again, the blonde halted her.

"But only for just a little bit! Berry, I—please," she lowered her voice, "if you know of anybody who can help, just— look, I'm slightly desperate."

She cocked an eyebrow at her. "_Slightly?"_

The blonde finally threw her arms up in the air with a huff.

"Fine! I'm desperate! My mother will be back on Friday and I'm already in so much trouble as it is and I really, really have to be home in five minutes otherwise she'd find out a snuck out, and I have to get to her laptop which I'm sure still needed to be charged and by that time…"

Rachel was finding this rambling oddly amusing. A desperate, word-vomiting Quinn Fabray was not something you get to see every day. She finally took pity on the other girl, though.

"I'll pick it up tomorrow morning and have it fixed by Thursday evening."

Quinn gave her a hesitant smile. "So you'll do it?"

Rachel opened her mouth to retort "Didn't I just say-"

"How much is it gonna cost me?"

She barked out a short laugh as she buckled up and turned the ignition. "I'm going to have to get back to you on that."

*o*o*o*


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Please try not to be confused as I will be alternating between both girls' POV when and where I see fit.**

**Still not mine; don't sue.**

**Thanks to all who took the time to review. =) I did not expect this to be received quite well. I'm still a little anxious about how it's turning out since I haven't written in a while. But I'm hoping you guys are enjoying it.**

*o*o*o*

Quinn was leaning down with one hand on the front bumper for support as the ugly gash on the otherwise pristine silver surface continued to mock her.

"You know, that dent will never disappear no matter how hard you try to stare it to oblivion."

_Great! Just when I thought my weekend couldn't get any better…_

She stood up with a scowl in time to see Rachel Berry saunter up the driveway. The shorter girl had her thumbs hooked into the front pockets of her ripped jeans – jeans that she had to admit fit the short brunette's genetically impossible long legs quite nicely- and was wearing a decidedly cocky smile. Her own scowl deepened.

_Why you obnoxious, little—_

"Good morning, Quinn. I trust you have had a good night's rest?"

It was unnerving- Quinn realized with a start- how the smirk on the other girl's face seemed to magically melt into a somewhat warmer, softer smile.

Unnerving— and creepy. C_reepy, yeah, that's what it was._

"Well," she snapped, arching an eyebrow and trailing a contemptuous look up and down the length of the other girl's frame, "looks like _you've_ had."

_Wait! No! That's not what I meant to—_

Rachel giggled—_giggled_—and took the last remaining steps to stand beside her in front of the silver vehicle.

"Actually," she saw the other girl's smile widen from the corner of her eye, "I had a rather pleasant eight hours of sleep. I woke up feeling refreshed and the walk over was also quite invigorating."

At this, Quinn turned her head slightly to – again (_What the hell is wrong with me this morning?_)—take in the other girl's appearance. She noted the faint blush on the tanned cheeks, the windswept brunette locks, and thin layer of sweat glistening on a long slender neck…

_Ok, ewww…_

Scrunching her face in disgust, she took a step away from her. "You walked all the way over here?"

Rachel threw her a _Duh! _before squatting to inspect the dent on the bumper. "Of course. How else am I supposed to drive this back to the garage if I had taken my Jeep?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and pretended (of course) to not notice the way the way the other girl's form-fitting black shirt had slightly ridden up her back, exposing a small expanse of smooth, golden skin—

"I hope you don't drench the leather seat with your gross sweat or anything," she bit back in response. "I wouldn't want you stinking up the whole-"

Rachel had chosen that moment to abruptly straighten up, taking her by surprise. Quinn, in her haste to immediately put some distance between them, took two hurried steps back. Her left heel caught in a crack on the cemented driveway and she found herself momentarily losing her footing.

In an instant, she felt a firm grip on her right forearm and another steadying hand on her lower back. If she hadn't been so relieved about avoiding an almost definite bruise on her rear, she would've taken the time to recoil at the unwelcome jolt of electricity she felt at the other girl's touch.

"Whoa, there," she felt a warm rush of exhaled breath against her cheek as Rachel assured her, "Ok. I got you."

It took a moment for Quinn to realize their sudden and close proximity. Mortified, she shook her arm free from the other girl's hold and again took two quick, albeit careful, steps back.

_Ok…what the hell was that?_

Rachel had a strange look in her eyes as a ghost of a smirk played on her lips. She cocked her head at Quinn before tilting it further to the side to apparently sniff herself.

"Nope," she glanced back at Quinn, "nothing there."

"Stop being so gross," Quinn huffed as she fished for the vehicle's key in the pocket of her denim shorts.

"Just take the key and go!" she extended her arm and held the keychain daintily between her thumb and forefinger. "Don't stain the seat your sweat and try not to leave your stench behind."

Rachel took several deliberate steps forward with a somewhat wicked glint in her brown eyes. She stopped by her left shoulder and eyed her other arm which was still stretched out, holding the key. Wanting to stand her ground, Quinn lifted her chin and held the shorter girl's gaze.

A gust of wind suddenly blew across the driveway and Quinn caught a whiff of a faint musky scent mixed with a touch of lavender. Her eyes involuntary fluttered shut at the unwanted (unexpected) intrusion to her senses. If that was what body odor smelled like-

_What the fuck, Fabray?_

"I'll take these, then."

Quinn's eyes flew open when she heard Rachel's gratingly chipper voice. She promptly narrowed her eyes at the other girl who flashed her a toothy grin as she reached for the key.

She watched as the brunette deactivated the alarm and walked to the driver side of the 4x4. Completely annoyed at her own actions, Quinn unconsciously decided to take her frustration out on the other girl.

"You better know what you're doing, Berry-" she growled.

Rachel peeked her head from the behind the open door. "Really Quinn," she threw her a wink, "do you have any other choice?"

*o*o*o*

Monday rolled around faster than Quinn had realized. It was another day closer to Friday and she couldn't help feeling the stirrings of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She had already spent the entirety of her weekend worrying over her decision to let Berry take the Lexus to have it fixed.

She ground her teeth at the thought of the other girl. Countless times over the weekend, she had found herself glossing over her moment of insanity that Saturday morning. The more she tried to find a logical explanation behind her uncharacteristically gross, disturbing, _harrowing_ reaction to Rachel's… Rachel's… _stench_, the more aggravated she felt.

She finally decided, at 9:34 P.M. last night, as she listlessly tried to get some sleep, that there was no other explanation other than Rachel Berry must be a practicing witch and has put some _god-awful_ spell on her.

**From S. Lopez: Rly, q... Ths witchraft talk s strtng 2 bore me.**

"Miss Fabray, would you like to share with the class what you find so distressing?"

Quinn looked up from her phone to find Miss Gosling waiting for her answer expectantly. From the seat to her right, she heard faint chuckling.

She turned to glare at Rachel briefly before smiling sweetly at the middle aged teacher. "I'd much rather not, Ma'am."

"Then would you please tell the class the sine of a right triangle with a 30 degree angle and a hypotenuse length of 2?"

The rest of the class sat in silence as she narrowed her eyes and glanced down at the open notebook on her desk. With an indifferent expression, she looked back up at the teacher.

"That would be 0.5, Miss Gosling."

A pleased smile flashed on the teacher's face. "Excellent, Miss Fabray," she quickly, sternly added, "I suggest you put your phone away though, before I confiscate it. Now, to solve for the cosine…"

Quinn was tuning her out when she heard Rachel murmur, "Impressive."

She stole a side-long glance at the other girl and saw her bent over the open Calculus on her desk, twirling a pen in her right hand, and a small smirk playing on her lips.

She gave a grunt of annoyance before leaning down to place the phone in her backpack on the floor, a smile reluctantly tugging on her lips.

*o*o*o*

And just like that, Rachel Berry was suddenly everywhere.

She was _everyfuckingwhere_.

Quinn was sitting at the Cheerios table at lunch the next day when boisterous laughter exploded from a nearby table. She turned around in time to see Rachel sitting amongst several boys, gesticulating wildly, and speaking in a hushed stage whisper. The said girl flapped her right hand below her chin and made a face, causing the group of boys to again burst out laughing.

In between classes, she found herself almost always catching sight of a familiar brown head weaving in and out amongst the throng of students in the crowded hallway.

Later that day, as she held her pose on top of the pyramid during Cheerios practice, her glance fell upon a solitary figure sitting in the stands. She didn't have to squint to know who it was.

She vaguely heard Sue Sylvester's voice through the megaphone instructing them to hold their poses for another five minutes. She was unintentionally (of course) watching the other girl put her feet up on the wooden plank in front of her. Then, almost without warning, Rachel lifted her head to look straight at her.

Surprised at suddenly having those brown orbs directed at her, Quinn's legs wobbled and her stance wavered for a second.

Below her, Santana hissed, "The _hell_, Q!"

"Sorry," she hissed back.

She blew a stray lock of her hair from her face and focused on staying upright in her position.

Rachel Fucking Berry was everywhere… and it was pissing (really) the hell out of her.

*o*o*o*


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This part turned out a bit longer than I intended it to be ****because I just didn't know when to stop****.**

**Still not mine. Still unbeta'd. **

**Reviews are so very welcome! Feed me; feed my fire!**

**Thanks for reading! Enjoy!**

*o*o*o*

The alarm chirped as Rachel slowly turned away from the Lexus. The walk over to Quinn's was not as invigorating as she had told the blonde. She was actually quite tired given that she had barely gotten in four hours of sleep the night before.

_Curse you, Evans!_

*o*o*o*

**From Sam Evans: Im srs, rach! I swr shes soooo into meeeeeee!**

_**To Sam Evans: We've already covered that fascinating tidbit, Sam—like 2 hours ago-over the phone. It's 2:15! Can we drop this already?**_

**From Sam Evans: I rly need 2 knw, rach! Do u thnk she lyks me?**

**From Sam Evans: I rly rly rly thnk she does. She ws smiling n bein all firty n stuff 2nyt**

**From Sam Evans: Rach?...**

_**To Sam Evans: I am ignoring you.**_

**From Sam Evans: But I rly rly rly need 2 knw wat u thnk!**

_**To Sam Evans: And I really, really, really need to get some sleep.**_

**From Sam Evans: Cn I call u tom?**

**From Sam Evans: I'll buy u coffee**

**From Sam Evans: And 1 of thse bagls tht u rly rly lyk**

**From Sam Evans: Rach?...**

**From Sam Evans: Hey rach...?**

*o*o*o*

She actually didn't mind talking and texting with Sam last night—in theory. Fact is, she was just tired of hearing him go on and on about Quinn Fabray. It wasn't tiring _per se_, but she can only take so much of the number of times Sam had to use "pretty" and "beautiful" to describe the head cheerleader.

It wasn't so difficult, really, to come up with other words to use like… S_tunning_.

_Dazzling_, perhaps.

Or _radiant_.

And _exquisite_.

_Alluring_.

_Enchanting_.

_Tantalizing…_

"Nice wheels!"

Rachel was just deleting her and Sam's text conversation from her phone when she was greeted with a thump on her back. She looked up with a smile at the burly middle aged man in denim overalls before her.

"Morning, Uncle Jesse." She stuffed the phone back in her pocket, gave the man a peck on the cheek, and gestured towards the new addition to the shed. "I hope you don't mind me bringing it in."

"No, of course not," He moved to inspect the dent on the bumper. "Whose is it?"

Rachel hesitated for a second. She briefly recalled Quinn saying last night that she wouldn't want to risk her mother finding out about the crash.

"A kid's from school," she shrugged. "I figured the dent isn't so bad and I could probably fix it myself."

"Mhm," her uncle ran his hand along the hood of the 4x4. "Must be pretty well off, too. These things don't come cheap, you know. You might want to be extra careful while working on it."

Rachel scoffed, crossed her arms, and fixed the older man with a stern look. "You seem to have forgotten that_ I_ can take on anything."

Jesse's booming laughter filled the small shed. "I don't doubt that for a second, pumpkin." He put his arms around her shoulders and started leading her towards the small office at the back of the shed. "Coffee?"

Letting her arms fall limply to her sides, she grinned. "Yes, please."

"By the way," he held the door open for her as he ushered her in, "your aunt wanted me to tell you about her cousin's best friend's neighbor's gym instructor's spa buddy's Tumblr follower's barista's brother who's just _dying_ to meet you. I think he's going to be at the party on Saturday-"

*o*o*o*

"And that last one was positively revolting! He claimed to be—and I quote—_seventeen_, but he had a beard—a full on _beard_! It was flapping in the wind for heaven's sake!"

Finn, Sam, Mike, and Noah Puckerman exploded with laughter around her. It was Tuesday at lunch when she finally broke down and told her group of friends about the upcoming and possibly catastrophic set up.

"Dude, that's nasty!" Mike gasped in between guffaws.

Rachel waited for them to calm down. "It's not funny!" she hissed. "They've been doing this to me ever since I turned sixteen last year and I swear—I _swear_— I must've already met every single male Jew below the age of eighteen in Lima! And they're all rather repulsive!"

"Hey!" Noah exclaimed, mildly affronted.

She turned to the mohawked boy with a half smile. "Not including you, of course, Noah." She thumped her right fist to her chest above her heart. "You know you're my best Jew."

Appeased, the other boy grinned at her. "Damn straight, I am!" He held his fist out to her, "Put it right here."

Returning his grin, she leaned over the table to bump her fist with his.

"So," Finn, seated on her right, was furrowing his eyebrows as he seemed to be mulling over a thought, "why don't you just tell them to stop?"

Heaving a defeated sigh, Rachel poked at the salad on her plate. "You obviously haven't met the rest of my family. They're not going to stop until they actually see me _with_ someone. Apparently they're – and again, I quote—_concerned_ about my lack of romantic involvement with anybody."

She glared at the piece of cucumber that kept sliding around the plate, avoiding her fork. "Sometimes I think about just grabbing some random person and introducing them as my significant other just to make them stop setting me up."

"Do you-" Rachel glanced up at the sound of Finn clearing his throat. "Um," she watched as the tips of his ears turn pink. "Do you maybe, uh, have your eyes set on anyone in particular?"

She didn't mean it to—she swore to g-d she _didn't_—but at that precise moment, her gaze strayed over to the table a few rows over where she caught a glimpse of a blonde head.

She turned her brown away just as quickly, and shook her head, "No. Not really."

"Oh," the tall boy visibly deflated and went back to the half-eaten burger he was holding.

"Well, I know whom I've got _my_ eyes on!" Sam interjected with a lopsided smile on his face. He turned around in his seat to shoot a longing glance at the head Cheerio. "God," he gushed. "Have you guys seen how _pretty_ her eyes are?"

The cucumber didn't stand a chance this time as Rachel unerringly, forcefully stabbed it with her fork.

*o*o*o*

Rachel picked her pace up as she neared the corner, carefully maneuvering her way along the newly mopped up linoleum. Glee had ended a little late today which threw her off of her schedule. She knew she was partly at fault, though; she had lingered on the bleachers a little longer than she should have, after all. She had walked into the choir room 10 minutes late and had to make up for her tardiness by offering suggestions and handing out twice the number of critiques than she normally would.

After the rest of the club had left, she did some scales, and then she all but flew down the hall towards the school's main entrance. She quickly glanced at her watch to see the digital display blink 5:37. She should probably make it home in 10 minutes, take the can of silver paint she had asked her father to pick up at the local hardware store for her, head on over to Jesse's, work on the Lexus, and be back home by 7:30- she's been looking forward to getting a nice, long, good night's sleep.

She rounded the corner leading to the main entrance just as somebody else stepped around from the other side. She felt the thump of another body against her chest as they collided and the unexpected force of the impact caused her left foot to slip forward, her left jean-clad leg sliding itself right in between the other person's spread ones.

"Ugh!" she grunted. Instinctively, she steadied her right leg and held on to the wall for support, her left arm reaching out to wrap around the waist of the person before her.

She sucked in a breath as two hands gripped her shoulders, affecting her balance and almost sending both of them toppling to the floor. She tightened her arm around a slim waist in an attempt steady the other person who still seemed to be struggling to gain a firm footing on the slippery floor.

Once she was sure they were not going to end up sprawled all over the floor, Rachel lifted her eyes to check on the person in front of her.

"I'm terribly sorry. Are you alright-?"

Rachel promptly choked on her own breath as she found herself staring into the wide, glassy depths of hazel eyes.

*o*o*o*


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm still out of the country with very limited internet access so I'm apologizing in advance for the delay and upcoming sporadic updates. Thought I'd throw this one in while I still can. Please don't hate me. =(**

**Also, I might've overused the F word.**

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd.**

**Thanks to those who took the time to leave reviews. *huggles***

Quinn walked out of the Cheerios locker room with Santana and Brittany in tow and ran a hand through her damp hair to shake a few droplets of water off. Practice had been particularly rigorous and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep the tightness of her muscles away.

That is, of course, if Rachel Berry decides to leave her subconscious alone long enough for her to actually get some sleep in. She gritted her teeth in frustration as her thoughts once again went unbidden to the other girl. The brunette had been popping in and out of her thoughts the whole day. What made it even worse was that she was _actually_ popping in and out of her line of vision, too.

It was nothing of short of ridiculous-this sudden, unwelcome _awareness_ she had of Rachel. She had never even given the other girl a second glance until she crashed her mother's Lexus that unfortunate (fateful) Friday night. Before that night, she had managed to stay out of Berry's business and had maintained a level of indifference towards her. They might share a couple of classes and, well, she might have dated a couple of the other's girl's male friends-but that was as far as their connections went. They have been traveling in different, albeit sometimes over-lapping circles, for the most part of their lives; Rachel had never crossed her path this often before.

It had definitely been one heck of a confusing, Berry-filled day.

Quinn turned the corner leading to the school's exit just as she heard a slight commotion up ahead. A couple of steps further, she stopped short and her breath caught in her throat as she took in the scene before her.

The new Cheerio recruit, Katie—a freshman, was embraced in a tangled mess of arms and limbs with Rachel. Effing. Berry.

*o*o*o*

_What the _hell _is going on here?_

Quinn felt her stomach drop and there was a sudden burning urge to claw at the younger Cheerio's face—No! _Berry's! _She wanted to claw at _Berry's_ face. What the hell was _she_ doing with one of her Cheerios?

"Ok, _what _is going on here?" she growled through her teeth. Vaguely, from behind her, she heard Santana hiss, "Down, girl."

Her voice seemed to have taken the two embracing brunettes by surprise. Rachel's eyes widened comically as her head whipped up to look at her and her own eyes narrowed when they met startled brown ones.

The brunette held her gaze, though. Then, slowly, with eyes still fixed at Quinn, Rachel lifted her hands to gently remove Katie's, which have until then been clutching the straps of her black tank top under her gray hoodie.

Through still narrowed eyes, Quinn stared as Rachel then wrapped a steadying hand around Katie's left elbow. The taller brunette's lips turned up in a smile as she broke eye contact with her and leaned in towards the other girl to murmur in her ear. Katie's cheeks flushed as she nodded and shyly returned Rachel's smile. The freshman untangled herself from Rachel and hurriedly turned to walk away- but not before throwing Rachel a lingering farewell glance.

Quinn's left eyebrow flew to her hairline.

_Again, what the _hell?

She did not know what to make of the sheepish half-smile that Rachel suddenly threw in her direction. With a brief nod and a deliberate turn of her head, Rachel slipped through the main doors, her dark locks catching in the slight breeze.

"Is it just me, or is Rachel Berry suddenly really hot?" Brittany deadpanned behind her.

Santana brushed against her as she walked past. "_If_ you're into _that_ type" she scoffed. "You coming or not, Q?"

Frowning, Quinn mentally shook her head as she tried to erase the image of Rachel strutting away, hips swaying with the confident gait-

_God, I need to have my head checked._

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she trudged behind her two friends on the way to the Latina's car. There was something she could not quite put her finger on- what with the way Rachel Berry was suddenly all over the place, in her tank tops and vintage shirts and torn jeans, throwing her furtive looks and flashing mysterious smiles—

_What the hell is she up to?_

Fuming, she plopped herself in the backseat and slammed the door shut.

_Something's up with the obnoxious brat_.

She resolved to find out what it was.

*o*o*o*

Quinn refused to admit that she was stalking Rachel Berry. _Rachel Berry, of all people._ Yet here she was, on her study period the following day, crouched low behind a row of bookshelves in the library, straining her ears to eavesdrop on the conversation between the occupants of the table on the other side.

"I don't get you, girl" Mercedes was saying in a hushed voice. "The man's practically throwing himself at your feet—why you playin'?"

"I resent that," Quinn rolled her eyes at Rachel's affronted tone, "I'm not _playin' _with him."

"Uh-huh."

She heard a shuffling of papers before Rachel spoke again, "It's the truth. I may have had feelings for him at one point but I have long since gotten over them. I-" she heard the girl let out a soft sigh, "I just don't see him as a potential lover anymore."

There was a sudden scraping sound as, Quinn guessed, Mercedes pulled her chair closer to the other girl.

"So, do you have the hots somebody else then?"

A clatter of books and a harsh shushing from the librarian almost drowned out the squeak that Rachel let out, but Quinn caught it and couldn't help but smile at the small sound. _Damn, that shouldn't have sounded as adorable as it should have._

"What? I don't know what you're implying but I…"

"C'mon, Rachel! You can't tell me that you hang out with some of the finest male specimens in the school and not find _at least_ one of them mildly attractive."

She heard Rachel gave a harrumph. "_Of course _I do Mercedes. But I only see them as, well, _buddies_. This would lead us to the actual reason why I am asking for your advice to begin with because Finn-"

Quinn jerked at the mention of her ex-boyfriend's name. Her elbow hit one of the filed books to her left causing the whole stack to crash unto the floor. With a gasp and a muttered _shit!_, she turned about and half-crawled half-ran—_figure it out—_down the length of the bookshelf away from the two girls.

*o*o*o*

Fourth period Physics found Quinn bearing a hole through Rachel's profile with her intense gaze.

"So, tell me Q," Santana was leaning over their lab table to her left, "when do we jump her?"

Quinn leveled her teammate with a glare. "We are not jumping anybody, S." She turned back to watching Rachel, who was chuckling at something that Goth Asian Girl had whispered to her. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nooooo," the brunette drawled, "what the hell is wrong with _you_? You've been watching Grease Lightning for the past twenty minutes like you—_Ow!_"

Quinn deftly caught the eraser that Santana had thrown back at her and scowled at her. "Quit it, S." she hissed.

"No, _you_ quit it."

"No. You. Quit. It."

"_You_," the brunette glared at her, "are freaking me out."

"This is me giving a fuck."

"This is _me_," the Latina gestured to herself, "thinking _tu eres una acosador loca_."

A soft giggle from behind her caused Quinn to drop her comeback in _French_. Feigning interest at the mumbo-jumbo of equations on the board at the front of the room, she went back to watching Rachel from her periphery.

Turning back around towards Santana, she whispered loud enough for her friend to hear, "S, look-"

The other girl, filing her nails and obviously still a little peeved, muttered, "What?"

"Look," she ordered, reaching over to tug at the brunette's Cheerios skirt. When Santana finally huffed and glanced at her, Quinn jerked her head towards Rachel and the Asian Vampire huddled over their lab workbooks.

Santana rolled her eyes and looked over with a bored expression on her tanned face. "What am I supposed to be looking at, Q?"

After throwing a quick glance over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes at her. "Berry. Watch her talk to Trisha. Isn't she acting a little bit-" she paused to search for the right word, "_weird_."

The other girl pursed her lips and went back to inspecting her nails. "Not as weird as you are, Q."

*o*o*o*

Quinn blindly fished for her ringing phone inside her backpack. Coach Sue had been summoned to Figgins' office, giving the team a five minute break from practice, and she had taken the opportunity to resume her latest favorite pastime: studying Rachel Berry. The brunette was once again out on the field playing Frisbee with a couple of boys Quinn recognized from some club— _some World of Witchcraft Minions or something_. She had been watching intently as one of the boys, a lanky blonde, gave the short brunette a fist bump when the vertically challenged girl had landed from a leap, after making a seemingly impossible catch in mid-air.

She finally found her phone, and without taking her eyes of off the trio, she hit Send and pressed the cool plastic to her ear.

"Hi, Quinnie! How's your week going?" her mom's voice filtered through the earpiece.

"Oh, hey, Mom! It's been going really well." Yeah, really, it was.

Tuning out her mother's voice, dropping a _mhmmm_ and an _uh-huh_ here and there, she unconsciously licked her lips when she saw Rachel stretch her arm up in the air to catch another throw, exposing a flat, taut stomach—

_She really should be getting longer shirts, for chrissakes…_

"What? Oh! Yeah, yeah—I can't wait to see you tomorrow too, Mom. Yeah, have a safe trip-"

_Wait. What?_

She snapped at attention when she finally caught onto the conversation.

"Wait! Wait! Mom! You said you were coming home tomorrow?" she squeaked. "Huh! But tomorrow's a Thursday… But you said you'll be back Friday… No! No, of course, not!… I was just—surprised… Yeah, I missed you to… Um… Yeah, ok. See you tomorrow then…eight o'clock. Right… Ok. Bye."

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit!_

*o*o*o*

The next twenty hours was a flurry of frantic phone calls and frayed nerves. Quinn's quest, "_Find Out What Rachel Berry is Up To Without Driving Myself Insane"_, had taken a temporary backseat to "_Get The Fucking Lexus Fixed and Delivered Home Before 8 PM, Goddamit."_

At exactly 5:00 that Thursday afternoon, the silver Lexus turned into the driveway.

_Thank God for Rachel Berry's anal punctuality!_

She tore out of the main door and stooped down in front of the 4x4 to inspect the bumper even before Rachel had shut the engine off. She raised her hand to run her fingertips along the smooth silver surface and, breathing a huge sigh of relief, let herself slump down unto the cool concrete of the driveway.

"Told ya, I'd fix it."

She looked up to find Rachel standing a few feet away with her hands behind her back and a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

Her first urge was to take the baseball cap perched on the brunette's head and use it to wipe the smirk of off her face.

Instead, she raised herself up, shook her head slightly, and rewarded her with an almost—_almost—_impressed smile. "Pretty good job, Berry. I didn't know you were actually gonna make it. How much do I owe you?"

Rachel suddenly flushed. Quinn stared, transfixed at the blush that blossomed from the other girl's cheeks and spread up to the tips of her ears.

_Rachel Berry's blushing… Rachel I'm-too-cool-for-you Berry is fucking BLUSHING._

Quinn was still trying to wrap her head around that fact when the said girl reached up to rub the back of a long slender neck. She eyed the way Rachel's hand flew from her neck, to her temple, to her lower back, and finally to the curve of her hip—scratching lightly at a non-existent itch.

"Yeah, uhm, about that-," the brunette trailed off. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jean shorts and fixed her eyes on her feet as they scuffed the ground.

_She's doing that scuffing thing again. _Quinn realized, _it must be nervous twitch or something._

Quinn was finding the whole display oddly fascinating and peculiarly… _charming_. Here was Rachel Berry, whom _she_ owed a fucking great deal, looking all timid, and unsure, and –_Fuck it; I'm going to burn in hell_—adorable.

The brunette suddenly took a deep breath and caught her eye.

"Will you go to party with me on Saturday?"

Quinn, dumbfounded, stared wide-eyed at the girl before her.

_Did she just? Oh—oh my god, was she asking me—_

Like a film reel, the events she had witnessed the day before and from all her subsequent _covert_ _observation sessions _flashed before her eyes, and the words she overheard—_okay, eavesdropped on_—echoed loudly in her ears. And just like that, she heard the proverbial pieces of the puzzle clicking in place.

_Ohmygod._

_._

_._

_._

_OH MY GOODNESS! Rachel Berry's capital G-gay!_

_I mean… EEEEWWW. Rachel. Berry's. Gay._

*o*o*o*


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hope you won't find this part a bit dragging.**

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd.**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome.**

*o*o*o*

Rachel paused to wipe a drop of sweat that hung on her brow with the back of her hand. She had been working on pulling the dent out of the bumper for the past half hour. It normally shouldn't be taking this long, considering the dent wasn't quite deep.

She gave the dent puller a firm tug and released the suction from the metal surface. Setting the puller on the floor, she ran her palm along the length of the metal, satisfied at the now smooth surface.

"Not bad." Jesse stopped to within a few feet from the vehicle.

"I know." She replied without looking up. "I'm applying the primer tonight. This baby should be ready by Thursday night."

"Good, coz I wouldn't want you to be working over the weekend. Everyone's expecting you to be at the party, y'know?" He chuckled. "They'd all kill me if you don't show up."

At this, Rachel straightened up and threw her uncle a perplexed look. "They? Who's _they_? You wouldn't happen to be talking about this guy you set me up with, would you?"

"Not necessarily…"

She gave a frustrated sigh. "Uncle Jess-"

The older man held a palm out to silence her. "I know, Pumpkin. I know how you feel about us setting you up sometimes…"

She scoffed. Jesse grinned and ruffled her hair before pulling her close in a one-arm hug. "Ok, I admit we may have overdone it in the past but we're only just looking out for you. You're seventeen; you shouldn't be holing yourself up in a garage tinkering with engines and fenders."

"I'm not _holing_ myself in," she insisted. "I have Glee, I have school, and I have my buddies to hang out with."

"Well, you should go out more often. Have fun. When was the last time you went out on a date with a guy you actually like?"

Rachel thought back to the middle of sophomore year when she had briefly gone out with Noah. That had been fun, she had to admit. He was the first "set up" that went fairly well; she liked him and he liked her, well, legs. By the third date, however, she had begun to realize that although Noah was quite attractive, she just could not feel a legitimate attraction to him. He also admitted to dating several other girls on the side. Yeah, like she's ever going to allow herself to be in a non-exclusive relationship.

There had been several other offers to go out, of course, the last being Finn's. She had gone to a few, but none of them ever worked for her. None of them could make her heart gallop a mile a minute with just a single smile, a fleeting touch. She had yet to meet somebody who could literally take her breath away. She wanted to; she wanted to feel all these things and so much more.

"Just be there on Saturday," Jesse broke through her reverie, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Maybe you'll even like this lad, then maybe, who knows?"

Rachel let out a sigh and strolled over the shelf to take the can of primer paint. She really, really, really didn't want to go through all this again. "But what if I have a date then?"

Her uncle winked at her. "Tough luck for him, then." He took the can from her. "So, let's get this thing painted, shall we?"

As she prepared the spray gun, her mind whirled. _Where in Moses' name will I find myself date?_

*o*o*o*

"So, Finn's a no, then?" Rachel ventured as she gathered up her textbooks.

"Nope," Mercedes shook her head. "Wouldn't be fair. Besides, you really wouldn't want him to get any ideas, would you?"

"No," she contemplated as they stepped away from the table. As they passed the first row of shelves on their way to the library's exit, she glanced at several fallen books scattered on the floor. "I guess not."

They walked out into the hallway just in time for Rachel to catch a glimpse of a flash of red turn the corner. Without meaning to, her eyes stayed glued to the spot at the end of the hall.

"So, I'm gonna head off, girl." Mercedes nudged her.

"Yeah," she replied, distracted. Shaking her head, she smiled gratefully at the other girl. "Thanks again, Cedes. I'll see you at Glee?"

She watched as Mercedes fluttered her fingers at her as she turned to walk away. Talking to Mercedes had been a brilliant idea. In her desperation to have someone to go to the party with her, she had almost asked Finn out. Mercedes, thankfully, had drilled some sense into her. The girl may be a lot of things, but she was a damn good listener and gave such rational advice.

_So… now what?_

Finn was out of the question. Puck? _Nah_, she had dated him already and her family knew that. It would not be worth the trouble explaining how they would have had _magically, suddenly realized they wanted date each other again. _Mike? He'd probably be out spending quality time with Tina. She of course wouldn't want to bring any of the other guys she normally hung out with—she didn't need the added stress of having to explain to them the what, where, and why of the whole mess. Sam? She'd be bored to tears. He'd probably be spending the whole afternoon mooning over Quinn Fabray-

_Quinn… Fabray…_

She felt a slight shiver— er, _shudder_- as her thoughts drifted to the popular blonde cheerleader (_Quinn had such an icy countenance, after all_).

Sure, they weren't actually _friends_. In the four years they've known each other, Quinn had barely even spoken to her apart from the occasional "Move it, Berry/Short Stack/Manhands/Treasure Trail/Tranny" in the halls. But the blonde had apparently given her some sort of reprieve from the biting remarks after the incident that Friday night. If truth be told, and if the brief glances (again, that _shudder_) they've shared over the past couple of days were any indication, she felt that they have unexpectedly fallen into some sort of truce. She liked to think now that Quinn was making quite an effort to not bite her head off even if the opportunity so much as presented itself.

Emboldened at that thought, she made up her mind.

_She does owe me, after all._

*o*o*o*

"How much do I owe you?"

_Oh, here we go…_

She felt heat rush up to her cheeks. She had spent the whole afternoon yesterday planning on how to ask Quinn to go to the party with her. She had thought about pulling off a grand gesture, with flowers and bunnies and violins and all, but later on scrapped it, convincing herself she wasn't actually going to be asking the blonde out on a date _date_. She also figured Quinn wouldn't necessarily appreciate _that_.

Quinn's frantic call yesterday evening, demanding her to get the job done and the Lexus delivered by five o'clock the following day had thrown her off. Although she was certain the vehicle's paint would have dried by then, she still needed more time to devise a plan. She had intended on returning the 4x4 on Friday afternoon, she was confident she would have had a game plan ready by then.

But then, well, here she was…

"Yeah, uhm, about that-"

_Oh, for Barbra's sake, Rachel! Get it over with!_

"Will you go to a party with me on Saturday?" she blurted out.

Nothing could have ever prepared her for the myriad of expressions that played on the face of the girl before her. Shock, disbelief, confusion, perplexity, and a few indistinct others flashed across a pale face.

Anxious, she mentally counted to ten, wanting to wait it out a bit while the other girl processed her question.

_10 Mississippi…_

_9 Mississippi …_

_8 Mi- Ok, any second now…_

_7 Mississippi… _

_6 Mississippi… _

_5… Um, Quinn?... uhm, Mississippi.._

_4 Missi-effing-ssippi… _

Quinn still showed no indication of responding. The blonde merely watched her, an unidentifiable expression on her face.

_3 Mississippi…_

_2 Oh dammit…_

_1…_

She sighed heavily before saying, "Look, I know you might think this is ridiculous, but if you'd allow me a moment to explain-" just as the other girl murmured, "Ok."

She snapped her mouth shut- slightly stunned, partially in disbelief.

"O-okay?"

Quinn cocked her head to the side as she regarded her with a look. "I guess," she shrugged. "I do owe you after all."

Rachel let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and allowed a small smile to grace her suddenly dry lips. "Right-" she nodded slightly. "Right… uhmm… ok then."

She felt her heart swell as the other girl tucked a lock of blond hair behind and ear and returned her smile. "Yeah. Ok then-"

*o*o*o*

_Fifth. That's the fifth time. _

Rachel pursed her lips to contain the smile threatening to split her face in two. It was a fine Friday morning- Quinn and she had been paired up to work on a Calculus in-class assignment (_Praise Ms. Gosling for insisting on first-name alphabetical seating_), they were huddled close together at the back of the room, and the other girl had been subtly (_Fail._) sneaking glances at her—all was well in Rachel Berry's world.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Quinn had stopped tapping her pencil on the open notebook on the table and had angled her upper body a little bit towards her.

_Might as well…_

She raised her eyes towards the blonde just as the said girl lifted her eyes to sneak another look at her. Hazel eyes momentarily widened when their gazes met and Rachel had to control herself from giggling—_giggling_.

"Was there anything you-?" she prompted Quinn.

"No. Why?"

She raised her eyebrows at the all too quick response. "Because if there was anything you wanted to-"

"What made you think that?"

This time, she couldn't hold it in. She let out a soft chuckle. _Why the heck is she being too adorable?_

Quinn's eyes narrowed at her. "Something funny, Berry?"

She flashed her a grin. "Nope."

They fell into silence again. Rachel had almost deciphered the beat of the tap-tapping of the other girl's pencil when Quinn murmured, "What time will you pick me up for our date?"

She froze.

"The _party_," Quinn hissed in a rush. "I meant the _party_."

Rachel waited for her heart to crawl back into her chest from where it momentarily lodged itself in her throat before murmuring back, "I'll be over at five to pick you up."

She cleared her throat.

"For the _party._"

*o*o*o*


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this. ****I'm not sure how this turned out; do let me know, please.**

**POV will be shifting back and forth a bit. **

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd**

*o*o*o*

Quinn skipped down the last couple of steps in her baby blue sundress and ballet flats. The bell had rung a minute ago, and while she didn't want to seem too eager by immediately bounding down the stairs, she also didn't want to run the risk of having the brunette speak with her mother and inadvertently spill the beans about the mishap.

She found her mother in the foyer, holding the front door open and laughing animatedly at something the girl on the other side of the threshold must have said. _Leave it to Berry to charm just about anyone— _

Rachel met her eyes over the taller woman's shoulder and flashed her a warm a smile. Swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat, Quinn briskly walked over.

"Hey, Berry." She pecked her mom on the cheek. "Ok, we're leaving now, mom."

"Oh!" Judy turned to her. "Alright, then." She fixed her with a stern look, "You know the drill-"

"Yes Mom, I'll be home by nine."

"And…"

"Mother-"

"And…" her mother prompted, pursing her lips.

"I'm still grounded and this is a one time thing." She mumbled. "Seriously, Mom-"

"Good," Judy patted her head. "Just so we're clear. You girls have fun."

Quinn then led the way down the walkway, leaving the other girl to catch up. As she reached for the Jeep's door handle, a slim arm swooped and beat her to it. Momentarily taken by surprise, she stepped back to let the brunette open the door for her. Murmuring a silent thank you, she tried to gracefully haul herself unto the bucket seat.

Rachel climbed effortlessly into the driver side and reached over to the backseat. The other girl's cheeks flush lightly as she handed her a long-stemmed sunflower.

"I, um, didn't want to give this to you in front of your mom coz—well, not that there's any particular reason for it—but I just thought-"

She took the flower from her, her lips turning up into a half-smile. "Thank you, you didn't have to-"

"I know," Rachel cleared her throat as she turned the ignition. "But it's the sensible thing to do."

* * *

Rachel shifted to neutral as they stopped at a light. They have been driving for five minutes and have barely spoken a single word to each other.

_Why did I ever think this was a good idea?_

Beside her, the blonde cleared her throat.

"So, this party-"

She nodded, turning her head to glance at Quinn. "It's my Uncle Jesse and Aunt Mary's anniversary- pretty small gathering."

The blonde nodded for her to continue.

_Ok so this is where I tell her about the deal, right? Right?_

"And, we arrive together at the party, right? I mean, not together, _together_-"

_Moses! Don't freak her out!_

Quinn was looking out the windshield, still slowly nodding her head.

"So," she shifted into first as the light turned. "And well-" she put the gear into second.

_She's unlikely to jump from a moving vehicle, is she?_

From out of the corner of her eye she can see Quinn studying her.

"They—my family—sort of, kind of, think you and I are, well-" she gulped. "-dating."

Rachel waited with bated breath for Quinn's reaction. They were approaching another intersection and was internally freaking out that the blonde will bolt once they stopped at the light.

As soon as she pulled the hand brake, she turned towards the still silent girl, ready to plead her case.

"Please—please don't jump out. You might think this is ridiculous and that I'm two points passed the point of crazy, but I just really, really, really need you to do this one thing for me—and I really don't want to be set up with a random guy anymore, if they could only see-"

"So we're _masquerading_—pretending to be on an actual date."

"That just about sums it up."

"And by that you mean we have to _pretend _to actually _like_ each other—"

"Pretty much."

"That we can actually_ stand_ each other-"

"That's the plan."

"And that we have to be all _coupley_ and be glued to each other's side and be all mushy and stuff—"

"Well, as long as you're comfortable with-"

"And this makes us even?"

"Yes." Rachel paused to look the other girl in the eye. "So- so you'll go along with it?"

Quinn glanced down at the sunflower she held on her lap before smirking up at her. "A deal's a deal."

She let out a sigh in relief just as the other girl held up one finger.

"One rule, though," the blonde arched a fair eyebrow, "there will - under any circumstance- be _no kissing._"

Rachel barked out a short laugh just as she stepped on the gas.

_Like I'd ever wanna kiss you, Fabray._

_Right?_

_Right._

_

* * *

_

The party was already in full swing as they pulled up across the street from where loud music was blaring from a quaint two-story house. Rachel had informed her that the party was going to be at her uncle and aunt's backyard and that no, it wasn't an exclusively Jewish thing.

"Uncle Jesse isn't Jewish so there's going to be a fair mix of people. And, yes—there will be pork." The brunette had assured her on the drive over.

Quinn waited for Rachel to walk around the front of the jeep to her side and open the door for her. The other girl, it seemed, was well intent on playing the part of her _date _convincingly. She was doing it quite believably so as she held out her arm for her take.

She still did not know what to make of the whole deal, to be honest. She almost had herself convinced that Rachel just really wanted to take her out and was well, just using their agreement as an excuse. It all fit so nicely in her theory that Rachel was gay and she was, actually, gay for _her_. And now that the brunette's intentions seem to indicate that she's not-so-gay for here after all, shouldn't she be _relieved_? She didn't need another person-a _gay_ person—to turn down. Did she?

"Rachel! Pumpkin! There you are!"

Quinn watched as a short, plump woman walked over to them and gave her companion kisses on both cheeks.

"Hi, Aunt Mary," Rachel held out a package wrapped in gold paper to the older woman. "Happy Anniversary!"

"How lovely," Aunt Mary gushed. She turned towards Quinn. "And who's _this_ lovely young lady?"

"Aunt Mary, this is Quinn Fabray. Quinn," Rachel smiled up at her, "my Aunt Mary."

"Happy Anniversary. Pleasure to meet you," Quinn offered her hand but was immediately enveloped in a hug.

"Pleased to meet you, dear," the older woman exclaimed as she released her. "It's always a pleasure to meet one of Rachie's _friends_."

The way she stressed the word _friends _made Quinn wonder how many _friends _Rachel had introduced to her.

Not that she cared, _really_.

*o*o*o*

"Thank you." Quinn took the glass of orange juice Rachel had gotten for her. The brunette had, admittedly, been nothing short of a perfect gentle_lady_ all afternoon. She had stayed by her side and had been very attentive.

"I hope you're not kicking yourself yet." The shorter girl chided, taking a sip from her own glass.

"Why would I do that?"

"This isn't exactly the way I'd imagined you spending your Saturday afternoon."

She laughed in spite of herself. "I should actually thank you for getting me out of the house. I'm still grounded, you know."

Rachel was all sorts of funny and she was pleasantly surprised at how well the brunette can carry an actual conversation—she had always thought Rachel would just be yapping away all afternoon. She was, truthfully, actually having a good time.

"It's been really fun, but" she lowered her voice conspiratorially, "the bigger question is: Are we fooling them?"

Quinn tried to ignore the thump-thumping of her heart as Rachel followed her lead and leaned her head a little closer to hers. She caught that whiff of lavender again as the brunette turned her head slightly to look furtively around.

"I think so, but" she murmured close to her ear, "I think that Blake guy they wanted to set me up with is still lurking around somewhere. We'd best not to drop our cover just yet-"

With that, Rachel gently rested her hand on her lower back. Quinn felt a sudden tingling sensation shoot from spot beneath the warmth of the other girl's hand up to her scalp and down to the tips of her toes.

_What the hell-?_

She straightened her back reflexively. "I uhm…"

Rachel was looking at her with an unreadable expression on her face. She diverted her gaze as warmth continued to spread on her cheeks.

_This is ridiculous._

"I—washroom-"

_Oh, for heaven's sake._

"Oh. Here," Rachel reached to take her glass from her, "let me take that."

Long, slender fingers brushed softly against hers as the other girl took her glass. She felt another jolt shoot up her arms.

_Ohmygod. Walk away, Quinn, just…walk away…now!_

And she did.

* * *

Rachel was still trying to calm her flailing heart when she realized she had wandered over to the dessert table. She still could not wrap her head around what that _thing _was with Quinn a few moments ago. She raised one hand to touch her chest above her heart, careful not spill juice on her white top.

"I certainly hope you're not pondering on how disappointing my soufflé was."

She jumped a little as she looked up. A tall, striking blonde was grinning at her. She also noticed the girl was wearing a white server's uniform as she set both glasses on the table.

"Oh, well, I don't really—eggs—and such-"

The blonde's grin grew impossibly wider. "Oh, I get it. You're one of _them_."

"You can say that."

"I meant that as a compliment." The tall girl wiped her right hand behind her back and extended it towards her across the table. "Hi, my name's Blake. I'm the dessert chef."

"B-Blake?" she gaped as she slowly shook the other girl's hand. "You're my aunt's cousin's best friend's neighbor's gym instructor's spa buddy's Tumblr follower's-"

"_Sister_," Blake finished for her. "I would understand how that tidbit of information would get lost somewhere in _there_."

She laughed light-heartedly. "I'm Rachel."

Blake held her hand for just moment longer before releasing it with a smile. "I know. And I know you're vegan, too." She winked at her.

"That soufflé's vegan, just so _you_ know."

*o*o*o*


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm so sorry this took a while. But here it is..**

**POV will be shifting back and forth a bit. **

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd.**

**Thanks for reading. Reviews are much appreciated.  
**

*o*o*o***  
**

With trembling fingers, Quinn brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Her reflection stared back at her on the mirror above the sink. She blinked once, twice, thrice, in an attempt to erase the wide, glassy look from her eyes.

_This is fucking insane—_

What had Rachel Berry done to her? Groaning, she briskly rubbed her hands on her arms as a sudden shiver crawled up her spine.

_What the fuck is going on-?_

…

Oh, who was she kidding?

She was a smart girl; she should be able to discern what this whole messed up _thing _with Berry was. She just wasn't sure if she actually wanted to _accept _it; she wasn't sure if she was readyfor _that_—whatever it was.

She liked to think, ever since she and her mother had moved out of her father's house, that she had freed herself from the constricting views that he had drilled into her all her life.

_Yet _it was one thing to be tolerant of alternative lifestyles— and it was a frighteningly different thing to actually be practicing them.

Not that she'd be practicing _anything_ with Berry anytime soon.

Not even if the opportunity presented itself.

Not even if a single touch had the propensity to send her reeling.

Not even if the sound of her voice could make her doubt the state of her lungs' health.

Not even if all signs pointed glaringly—_in flashing neon and such— _to the blatantly obvious.

No.

_Of course not._

_Right?_

…

…

The washroom, she decided, was not the most conducive place to psychoanalyze herself.

One thing was for sure though: She did owe Rachel.

A deal is a fucking deal.

The first order of things was to get this day over and done with; she'd have plenty of time tonight and the rest of the weekend to figure this out… whatever _this _is.

Steeling her resolve, Quinn fluffed her hair one last time before pushing the door of the washroom open and stepping out.

*o*o*o*

The scene before her made her stop in her tracks, her flats digging into the soft grass.

She had left the washroom intent on finding her companion and picking up where they left off and she had wandered over to where they were previously standing, when her eyes caught the sight of a familiar brown head at one of the buffet tables. She had walked casually over only to find the said brunette, her hip propped against the linen-covered table, laughing with a taller blonde girl in a white uniform.

Her head lolled to side as she observed the two girls talk from where she stood rooted to the spot. The blonde- towering almost a foot over Rachel- was leaning with one hand on the table and nodding emphatically. The taller girl smiled, flashing the girl in front of her a set of pearly whites.

There was that churning in her stomach again, not unlike the one that rumbled through her when she caught that freshman straddling the short brunette in the hallway a few days ago.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she watched from afar as Blondie Long Legs chuckled and lightly grazed Rachel's forearm with her hand.

_A little touchy, aren't you?_

Her eyes narrowed as the said blonde leaned slightly towards the brunette—

_Oh, hell no!—_

With a low growl and an indignant stomp of her foot, Quinn squared her shoulders and started to walk briskly over.

She'd be losing sleep over this tonight but _dammit—_

That—that—_pole _was making a move on her _date_—

_Her _date.

_Mine!_

*o*o*o*

Rachel was laughing that tinkling little laugh of hers as she approached the line of buffet tables.

"What's so funny, Rach?" she asked with a soft smile as she schooled her features into a look of confusion.

Rachel -obviously a little surprised with her sudden appearance- jumped a little at the sound of her voice.

"Q-Quinn! Oh—oh, there you are."

"Here I am," her smiled widened as she took the glass from Rachel's hand. "Thanks for holding onto this for me."

Out of the corner of her eye, Quinn noted the other girl studying her, curiously following her movements. Smirking internally, she slowly, almost leisurely, looped her arm around Rachel's waist and rested her hand on a jean-clad hip. She purposely let her smile linger on the brunette's face before whipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned to regard the other blonde.

"Hi," she smiled brightly. "Have we met?"

This seemed to have shaken Rachel from the stupor she had been in.

"Oh! Right—I'm sorry. Quinn, this is the pastry chef, Blake Simms…"

Her eyebrow threatened to disappear above her hairline.

"…Blake," Rachel gestured to her. "Quinn Fabray, my-"

"_Date,_"Quinn stressed with a close-lipped smile. She felt her left eye muscle twitch as Blake held her gaze. Her grip on Rachel's hip tightened.

"…Pleased to meet you, _Blake_."

* * *

Now, Rachel Berry had never claimed to be a connoisseur in the art of social interactions—much less between that of the female sort. Having been surrounded by boys most of the time, her interactions with her peers of the same gender have always been limited to those confined within the four walls of the classrooms and that of the choir room. She'd heard Puck and Sam, and at times Finn, throw words like _catty _and _bitch fights _around a bit but she had never actually been a witness to any of that, _Thank g-d_.

Her gaze shifted from one pale face to the other. But even she can feel the almost stifling tension in the air as Quinn and Blake continued to stare each other down—with matching sickeningly sweet smiles plastered on.

_Uhmmm…_

Quinn's fingers on her hip dug just a little bit deeper.

_Okaaaayyyy…_

Blake's blue eyes twinkled.

Quinn's hazel ones flashed.

The "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" theme song played in her head.

_Doo-doo-doo-doo-doooooooooo… Doo-doo-doooooooooo…_

*o*o*o*

Blake eventually caved.

"Well," she broke eye contact with Quinn and turned to Rachel. "It's been nice but I really need to get back to work."

"Of course-"

"It's really nice to finally have met you." Blake told her softly.

Rachel felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

"Wasn't it?" Quinn chirped to her left.

Blue eyes flicked between her and the blonde beside her-who has yet to release the vise-like grip on her hip.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, Queer."

"Quinn."

"Same thing."

With a wink at Rachel and a vaguely-disguised glare at Quinn, Blake turned to walk towards the back door leading into the kitchen.

"Funny girl." Quinn mumbled, still staring at the taller blonde's departing back.

"She actually is."

"I bet."

Rachel bit her lower lip to keep the smile from spreading on her face. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought Quinn was giving Blake an epic stink-eye. This was all too surreal. Amusing? Yes. Perplexing? Definitely. But still positively surreal.

The soft opening notes of the string quartet wafted thought the speakers.

Twisting her upper body a little bit, she pulled left arm behind her back to reach Quinn's right hand which was still clutching her hip.

"I suppose, but-" Now holding on to the blonde's hand, she turned fully around to face her. "—I bet she's a terrible dancer."

Quinn had a mildly confused look on her face as she stared down at their clasped hands.

"May I-"

Hazel eyes glanced up to meet her dark ones. The music steadily built up into a slow crescendo, providing a fitting accompaniment to the rhythm of her heart beating suddenly wildly in her chest.

"Would you like to dance?"

* * *

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod…_

Quinn frantically tried to subtly smooth out her dress as Rachel, still firmly grasping her hand, led her to the wooden dance floor in the middle of the yard. She kept her eyes to glued to the ground as she felt her insides quake at the slight, barely-there way the other girl's thumb was caressing the back of her hand.

_Get a grip, Fabray!_

She silently berated herself for acting like a ridiculous_ tween_ with a silly little crush—

_Oh my goodness-_

Rachel had maneuvered both of them to the middle of the dance floor when the brunette let go of her hand and turned around to look at her. Quinn stood there, arms hanging limply at her sides as she blinked once, twice, thrice. She worried all this blinking she'd done today will eventually cause esotropia.

Her head was spinning.

"Ok, so-" Rachel cocked her head to the side and was staring expectantly at her.

_For fuck's sake Fabray! It's just a silly little dance!_

Hesitantly, Quinn raised her arms to lay on the shorter girl's shoulder, just as Rachel lifted slender arms to rest on hers.

"Oh. Uhm."

"Right… Let me just-"

"Ok, maybe if you-"

Rachel finally put an end to their sparring arms as she carefully gripped her hands.

"Here," the brunette gently guided Quinn's right hand to her shoulder as she held onto her left. A warm palm rested on her hip. "Better?"

"Yeah-" she breathed out, the corner of her lips turning up into a smile.

"Ok…"

"…Ok."

They stood there for a while, swaying slightly as the music floated around them. Rachel was being uncharacteristically silent. It was rather disconcerting.

_This is so not helping. Like, at all._

She felt an almost desperate need to know what was going on that little head of hers as she racked her brains for something to say.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Rachel murmured quietly.

As Rachel's warm breath brushed against her cheek, her eyes fluttered close briefly at the unexpected shiver that crawled deliciously up her spine.

"No," she finally managed to say.

"Ok…"

"…Ok."

* * *

The faint scent of vanilla mixed with a tinge of lilac filled her senses and it seemed to block out the rest of the world. All that she is aware of at the moment is Quinn. Quinn. Quinn.

Quinn's hand on her shoulder.

Quinn's hip beneath her palm.

Quinn's breath as it escapes from her in soft even intervals.

She suddenly found difficulty in breathing.

_Oh dear… What is air?—_

"Are you alright?"

Deep hazel orbs were boring into her.

"Yes."

Long strong fingers splayed dangerously close to where her neck met her shoulder. When a thumb twitched to graze against the soft hairs at the back of her neck, she clutched at the soft fabric of Quinn's dress in response.

She shuffled just a little bit closer.

Quinn gripped her shoulder just a little bit tighter.

Rachel's heart pounded in her ears and she struggled to control her breathing.

_Breathe in—_

_-Breathe out._

_Breathe in—_

_G-d she smells divine—_

_-Breathe out._

_Breathe in-_

"Rach?"

"…Yeah?"

_-Breathe out._

"Uhm…" She felt Quinn's hand slide a little from her shoulder to the column behind her neck, teasing the small strands of hair. "Is this ok?"

_Breathe in-breathe out-breathe in-breathe out-_

_Breathe in-breathe in- breathe in-  
_

"Sure."

"Ok…"

"…Ok."

* * *

Quinn vainly tried to control the ruckus in her chest. That brief, momentary rush she felt of having Rachel so close at her driveway a week ago could not even compare to _this_.

This.. This was...

"Quinn…?"

"… Yeah, Rachel?"

She felt the hand on her hip circle around to her lower back.

"Is _this _ok?"

She swallowed against the golf ball-sized lump that had formed in her throat.

"…Sure."

Rachel held her gaze as she slowly led Quinn's other hand to rest on her shoulder. She shivered as the other girl released her hand to softly trail fingertips up the length of her arm. The same fingers grazed her side before finally settling on the slim of her waist.

"And _this_?"

The whispered question washed over her and stole her ability to speak as she stared back into intense brown eyes peering at her beneath lowered lashes.

_God…_

"…Yes."

Her feet moved on their own volition as she closed the gap between them and she sucked in a breath as Rachel's warmth instantly enveloped her. It was a sudden, extraordinary feeling of sensory overload that and all she could ever be aware of at that moment was Rachel. Rachel. Rachel.

The few inches Rachel had gained from the heels of the riding boots she was wearing allowed her to be about the same height as her and she felt the other girl's belt buckle brush softly against her lower abdomen, the texture of jeans as it scratched against the fabric of her dress on her thigh. The delicate scent of Rachel's lavender perfume swirled around her, deliriously intoxicating.

Her fingers played with the loose tendrils at the back of Rachel's neck. Her eyes looked on in wonder as the other girl's eyes fluttered and closed.

"Hey, Rach-?" she rasped.

Dark eyes re-opened to meet hers.

"You know that rule?"

Rachel slipped her right hand to her lower back, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

"What rule?"

She shivered as she watched a pink tongue dart out to moist a lush bottom lip.

_God…_

She could not help herself as she leaned in just a little bit closer.

"_That_ rule-"

"That was a stupid rule-"

"Yeah-" She maybe, sorta, kinda lost it as Rachel's gaze fell to her lips. "Yeah, it was…"

*o*o*o*


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So sorry it took me forever to update this.**

**Big thanks to all the reviews. I'm not quite sure how this turned out- O.o I do hope you let me know =)  
**

**Still not mine; all mistakes are though.**

**Thanks for reading.  
**

***o*o*o***

Quinn's breathing came out it short, ragged gasps as Rachel tilted her head slightly _just so_.

_Ohgodohgodohgod-_

_Don'tfaintdon'tfaintdon'tfaintdon'tfaint-_

"You're doing a remarkably believable job-"

_What?_

"What?" Quinn's eyes flew to meet shining brown ones.

"This,_" _Rachel murmured, motioning between them. "Your efforts are quite commendable. I-"

"..._What?_" she breathed out incredulously, taking a small step back.

"I said-"

"I heard you, _geez_."

_Oh, fu-!_

The sudden realization that Rachel had been doing all _this _for show hit her like several dozen slushies to the face.

_I can't believe I fell for all that-!_

It was all still for the stupid charade she had—even more stupidly- agreed to.

Quinn was suddenly overtaken by a sudden need to put as much space between them as possible. Trembling, she withdrew her arms and wrapped them around herself as she gaped at the other girl.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuck-_

Rachel, arms still outstretched, took a tentative step towards her, a look of confusion washing over her features.

"I—I meant…" Her voice was barely above a whisper, "it's great how you-"

"I _said _I heard you the first time."

"Quinn-"

She refused to meet Rachel's eyes. "I'm—I'm kind of really tired. Could you take me home, please?"

_Please?_

She heard Rachel heave a sigh.

"Ok."

*o*o*o*

Just as she wanted to get away from all of this- away from Rachel- of course, _of course, _they just had to _say goodbye to his fathers _first.

She restrained herself from rolling her eyes as she nodded mutely. She tried to keep a respectable distance as the brunette led them through the throng of dancing people, away from the dance floor, and across the yard towards a round table where four adults- Rachel's fathers, Jesse, and Mary- were seated.

"Rachel, Quinn! Why aren't you kids tearing up the dance floor?" The taller of Rachel's two fathers, Hiram, grinned as they approached.

"We, uhm," Rachel turned to her briefly. "Quinn really needed to get home."

"So soon?" Aunt Mary piped up, pouting a little.

"I'm sorry." Quinn offered a small smile. "But I promised my mother I'd be home early."

"Oh, well, I can't argue with that." The older woman stood to give her a hug. "Thank you so much for coming."

"I had a lovely time." Quinn hugged her back. "The pleasure is all mine."

Mary pinched her cheek as she released her. "Such a charmer. No wonder Rachel's so smitten-"

_Oh really?_

_Wait, what-?_

Quinn threw a side-long glance at the said girl. She found Rachel blushing profusely as she shook her head and chewed on her bottom lip—

"Stop embarrassing the poor girl, Mary." Jesse laughed as he threw his arm around her shoulders in a side-hug.

Quinn, grateful for the distraction, giggled. She really didn't want to have to start wondering about Rachel's bottom lip... she really, _really_ she didn't.

Leroy pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stepped forward to hug her just as Hiram let her go. "Ignore her," he chuckled, nodding at Mary. "She's in a love bubble."

"Oh, _psh_! Love is a beautiful thing!"

"Aunt M!" Rachel whined, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Alright, alright!" Mary held up both hands in surrender. "Let me at least take a picture of you girls."

"Aunt M-"

"Oh, I really don't think-"

"One," Mary held up a finger, "just one."

Quinn stared, her mouth slightly agape. _Is she serious?_

The older woman batted her eyelashes exaggeratedly at her, pleading with her eyes.

_She's serious._

She slowly turned towards Rachel. Questioning chocolate orbs gazed back at her: _Your call_.

Her eyes narrowed for a split second before looking back at Mary with a smile and a shrug. "Sure. Why not?"

*o*o*o*

_Whose brilliant idea was this anyway?_

They had been standing a good foot apart, tight smiles ready for the camera, when Leroy had chided _Come on, girls, no need to be shy _and gestured for them to move closer to each other.

Now Rachel's arm was brushing against hers and -_for the love of god!—_

_When is this ever gonna end?_

"I'm sorry-" she heard the brunette whisper next to her.

Before she had the chance to hiss "_What?_", Rachel looped an arm around her back to gently lay a hand on her waist.

_Oh sweet mother of-_

"Say 'Cheese'!"

_-Cheesus!_

*o*o*o*

The short fifteen-minute drive home was arguably the longest Quinn had to ever endure.

She felt like she had been thrown in so many loops within last couple of hours and her head was pounding and the heavy silence bearing down between them now was choking her and she had been making run on sentences in her head yet she was nowhere close to making a lick of sense of anything and-

_How is THIS my life? _

_I just made a complete idiot of myself—_

_Over. Rachel. Fucking. Berry._

She had never, ever, _ever_, felt so… so _mortified_—

"Here we are."

Quinn had been staring blankly out of her window until then when she realized the brunette had parked at the curb in front of her house.

"Listen, Quinn-" Rachel shut the engine off.

"Save it, Berry." She sighed in frustration. "Can we just move on and forget about this?"

"I just wanted to thank you-"

"Fine," she grumbled through gritted teeth. "You're welcome. We're even. Happy?"

"I—I don't know-"

This time, she did roll her eyes.

"Not my problem", she huffed as she reached to open the door.

"No! Wait-" Rachel grasped her hand she had on her lap. That jolt of electricity shot up her arms again and _fuck it _she did not need any of that again.

Like, ever.

"Get your man hands off of me, Berry-"

_Shit. _

Clamping her eyes shut, she turned away as soon as the scathing words left her mouth.

She didn't mean that—she honestly didn't. She just felt so horribly flustered about having to deal with so many different, conflicting feelings at once.

And it was not helping—_like, at all— _that the cause of it all could not seem to stop touching her and igniting tiny little sparks that dance all over her skin and scattering her thoughts all over the place.

Her breath hitched at the sudden inexplicable feeling of loss when Rachel finally released her hand.

She desperately, desperately needed to get a grip.

"I'm sorry-"

"Stop saying that—" She whipped her head around to glare at the brunette. "_Why_ do you keep saying that?"

"I don't-"

"Stop!" she clamped her hands over her ears. _God! _"You kept saying that over and over and _over_-"

"Because I truly am—"

"—_Sorry. _Right. Ok. Fine."

Quinn crossed her arms and stared out the window. She really needed to get out of the car, away from Rachel, and into her bed—why isn't she even moving?

"I was also wondering if we could maybe talk-"

_Talk about wha— _Her eyes widened. _Oh hell no!_

She turned to gape at Rachel who was fidgeting with a loose thread on her white top, conspicuously avoiding her gaze.

_Get the fuck out of the car, Fabray-_

"I don't really know where to start-"

_Move, Fabray. _

_Move._

She continued to watch as Rachel licked her lips, brows furrowed. "I suppose it's best if I expound on my apology, first."

Rachel took her flabbergasted silence as consent to continue.

"I'm sorry I had to put you through all that."

_Like, specifically-?_

"I've never meant to be dishonest about anything, especially with my family." Rachel glanced up at her. "And I didn't want to have to drag anybody into this whole… _shenanigan._"

_Who even says 'shenanigan' anymore_?

And, really, why is she not moving and getting the hell out of the Jeep?

"I'm sure you've gathered that I must have been really desperate to enlist your assistance-"

_True._

She found herself smirking a little.

"And I admit it was unfair for me to just spring it on you, expecting you to just go with it, without prior advice. And for that, I truly am sorry."

Rachel held her gaze this time, the sincerity swirling in warm brown eyes.

She felt her heart constrict just a tiny little bit.

_Fabray, you sap!_

"I am also extremely grateful."

She stared, transfixed, as Rachel slowly, hesitantly, reached over to briefly pat her knee once, twice.

"You didn't have to do it, but you did. You could have easily brushed me off and told me to suck it, but you didn't-"

Quinn chuckled in spite of herself at hearing Rachel curse.

_What is it about this girl-?_

"…You're awesome like that."

It wasn't the compliment, but more so the vulnerability that laced her words when she said them. Like the girl was not sure how she would take it, but she said it nonetheless.

This was a moment she would later look back on as she laid in bed that night—a moment when she realized that Rachel Barbara Berry had—just like that—won her over.

Yet again.

The girl had been doing a lot of that lately—winning Quinn over and over and over. Just when she thought she had finally wanted to rid herself of any semblance of connection with her, the brunette sucks her right back in.

With her smirks, and her furtive glances, and her confidence bordering on arrogance, and her tinkling laughter and that shy smile…

And her eyes…

Her touch…

_What the hell is she doing to me?_

The confines of the Jeep—with Rachel barely a foot away from her, she decided, was _definitely _not the most conducive place to psychoanalyze herself either.

"Well," Quinn cleared her throat, finally breaking the silence. She threw the other girl a cheeky little smile. "I guess I _am_ kinda awesome."

"Definitely."

"Don't you forget it."

"Never."

"I expect you to spread the word about my awesomeness."

"Consider it done."

"But this whole _shenanigan _stays between us."

Rachel made a zipping motion with her fingers on her lips. "My lips are sealed."

"And—and…"

_Oh sweet hell! Why did she have to bring up her lips again-?_

"_And_ on Monday, things go back to the way they were. We'll forget this weekend ever happened and I'll stay clear from you and your spawns-"

_Why?_

"Why _aren't_ we friends, Rachel?"

_Huh._

Rachel, obviously also taken aback by the question, seemed to take a moment to think it over.

"I don't know," the brunette finally shrugged. "I think we never really got the chance."

"I guess."

"Would you—would you like to be my friend?"

Would she?

_Oh, I don't know, maybe?_

"Would you- like to be mine?" _Wait! _"Be my friend, I mean."

"Who wouldn't want to be your friend?" Rachel grinned.

"I'm not really the nicest person—"

"You don't have to be."

"And I can be a bitch sometimes—"

"I'm sure I can take you on if I have to."

Really? _Really?_

"I also don't necessarily always say Hi to people in the hallways and such-"

"Who does?"

_Uhm, normal people?_

"If it helps," Rachel's grin widened. "I prefer the more subtle way of acknowledging a friend in the hallways-"

"Which is?"

"I wink-"

And Rachel winked at her.

And maybe she _should_ have found that just a little too dorky.

But she maybe, sort of, kind of swooned.

Just a little bit.

Just a tiny, little bit.

_Holy sweet hell—_

"So would you like to give this—us— a shot?"

Rachel was observing her with wide, hopeful brown eyes.

Waiting.

She swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat.

"I don't see why not."

The way the other girl's face lit up will definitely be worth all the agonizing, torturous, sleepless nights she was sure was in store for her.

Rachel eyes were shining as her lips stretched into a wide grin.

"Cool."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Cool."

"May I walk you to your door?"

She raised an eyebrow. "We can stop pretending now."

Rachel shrugged and turned to step out of the Jeep. As she watched the other girl walk around the front of the vehicle through the windshield, her gaze fell on the sunflower on the dash.

She hesitated for a split second before she snatched it up just as her door flew open.

*o*o*o*

"I guess—I guess I'm sorry too." Quinn turned to the shorter girl as they reached the front door.

Questioning dark eyes bore into her.

"Sorry if I, you know, messed up your—_whatever-_ with Blake… or something-"

_Where is this coming from?_

"Blake?"

"Yeah," she gave a sheepish smile. "You probably wouldn't be getting her lady loving any time soon… not after what I did…"

And _Oh god—_why wasn't she shutting up?

"… unless you clear things up that we're not really dating... or you know, something like that-"

"…_Lady loving_— why would I want that?"

There was, Quinn thought, something oddly fascinating about the way _lady loving _rolled from Rachel's tongue.

"Because, uhm- Don't you find her hot?"

"She _is_ aesthetically pleasing— but why would I want her, uhm, _lady loving_?"

"Because… I just assumed…"

Rachel had a maddeningly clueless look on her face.

"So… Wait… So—you're not… you're not gay?"

"What?" Rachel took a step back. "… Wait! Is this what all the awkwardness was about?"

_Uhm…_

"You think I'm gay?"

_Maybe?_

"… were you uncomfortable when we-"

_Oh dear god-_

"Quinn, if you were uncomfortable all this time you should have told me-"

"No! I mean—yes. No.. what I mean is- Wait, what?_"_

She thought the blood rushing to her face must have derailed her ability to think at that moment.

"My—my sexuality was making you uncomfortable?"

"What?" God help her. Her mind was in danger of exploding.

"My being gay-"

_Jesusmaryjoseph…!_

"So you—you are-?"

"… No—no I'm not." Rachel was shaking her head.

_Ok breathe, Fabray. It's not that hard._

She heaved what she hoped was a sigh of relief.

"Oh. Alright then-" she let out a short laugh. "I'm glad that's sorted out."

Her own laughter sounded glaringly fake even to herself.

Rachel stuck her hands in her jean pockets and cocked her head a little.

"Yeah- yeah, me too."

*o*o*o*


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for not giving up on this little thing here. =) The next part will be up soon. I promise. ;p  
**

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd.**

**Thanks for reading; please let me know what you think.**

**XOXO**

***o*o*o*  
**

She's not.

_Right?_

Is she?

"Am I?" Rachel was spread-eagle on her bed, her head tipped back as she stared at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers on the ceiling above her.

_"My—my sexuality was making you uncomfortable?"_

_"What?"_

_"My being gay-"_

_"So you—you are-?"_

_"… No—no I'm not."_

_"Oh. Alright then- I'm glad that's sorted out."_

_"Yeah- yeah, me too."_

That last bit with Quinn Fabray had been playing on repeat in her head ever since she hopped back into her Jeep over an hour ago. It was, she knew, far from being sorted out.

She had never really entertained the notion before- that she could actually be gay.

_Not that there's anything wrong with that. _

It just never popped up in any conversation she had ever had with anybody before.

_Not like anybody would just come right out and ask me if I was gay or anything._

Yet, considering whom she had been in regular contact with- Finn, Sam, Noah-, it was highly doubtful they even had the capacity to ascertain if she had, indeed, been sending off gay vibes.

_Gay vibes- is that what you call them?_

Was she sending off gay vibes tonight?

_Did Quinn pick up on those vibes? _

She tried to recount her actions earlier: She had arrived at her house, opened the Jeep's door for her-

_Ok... a little out of the ordinary, but not entirely gayish-_

She gave her the flower-

_Right... but girls give other girls flowers, don't they? Like on birthdays, and such. And celebrities- people on Broadway give each other flowers all the time, don't they?_

She introduced her to her parents, aunt, and uncle as her "date"—

_Well, of course! That was the whole point of the charade, wasn't it?_

She held out her chair, got her drinks-

_Might as well discount the whole of dinner. _She groaned. _I was merely being in character-_

Then she met Blake-

_That- _she felt herself blush a little. _Now, _that _was a little interesting-_

Now, she had to admit, she probably had as much social panache as a tennis ball. But she had to have been a tree stump to not notice that the tall blonde was flirting all the while with her.

She was, at first, a little taken aback by how blatant it all was—what with all the little hand grazes and hair flips and _Oh dear, _the girl was laughing at all her silly quips.

It was nice, if not a little bizarre and unexpected. She had never had another girl express that kind of interest in her before—let alone _flirt _quite openly with her. How did the girl even _know _she wouldn't be thwarting her advances?

Which brought her back to the gay vibe question: Had she been spouting rainbows out of her ears all this time? Was that why Quinn assumed she had been interested in pursuing some, _what was it— _'lady loving'— with Blake?

_Was she repulsed by it?_

_No she couldn't have been._ _She agreed to take part in the charade after all._

And then there was that dance…

* * *

Five blocks away, Quinn laid sideways on her bed, staring at the sunflower on her dresser.

She had received flowers before, sure. But none of those had ever intrigued her as much. The yellow petals fluttered slightly as a gentle breeze wafted through her open window. A slow smile played on her lips; she wouldn't put it past Rachel Berry to actually research on the meaning of sunflowers before presenting it to her. Half-tempted to get up and Google it herself, Quinn chuckled as she pictured the tiny brunette hunched over a laptop, with ten tabs open on her screen, scrolling through websites for "flowers and meanings".

_Then again, _her brows furrowed suddenly, _maybe it could've just been the first flower she saw when she walked into the flower shop._

She mentally shrugged. _Not that it matters, anyway. _

But it did.

Every single thing Rachel Berry had done had indeed mattered. She wouldn't be in bed, still in her dress, recounting every single thing that happened that day, if they hadn't.

She touched her fingertips to her cheek as she felt another blush creep in. Yet again. And then there was that odd fluttering in her stomach as her thoughts moved on to _that_ dance.

Her breath hitched as she recalled the way Rachel felt in her arms as they swayed gently on the dance floor… and as the brunette tilted her head just a little bit closer…

"UGH!"

She couldn't have just been imagining that… that… _thing_ between them as they danced, could she?

* * *

Rachel's heart raced as she relived that almost-kiss.

Quinn had been looking at her from beneath lowered lashes, her soft breath mingling with hers. Her lips had never looked more inviting and she was _this_ close to dipping in for a taste…

_"You're doing a remarkably believable job-"_

* * *

_"Your efforts are quite commendable..."_

Quinn sighed heavily as she tried to tamp down the feeling of embarrassment bubbling within her chest.

They had gone through this already. It was all for show; Rachel had been very clear about that. It was not the brunette's fault _she_ had inadvertently taken things the wrong way. It was neither her fault though, that the romantic setting- the dramatic lighting, the soft music—had gotten to her.

_It definitely had nothing to do with me wanting to kiss Berry—_

_-or her wanting to kiss me…_

…

…

_Wait._

Frowning, Quinn glared at the sunflower.

_WHY wouldn't she wanna kiss me?_

_

* * *

_

Groaning, Rachel pulled the pillow from beneath her head to cover her face as she screamed, "GAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH!"

She heard a soft knock on her door. Lifting her pillow an inch away from her mouth, she called out, "Come in!"

"Rachel, honey?" she recognized her dad Leroy's voice. She let the pillow drop back on her face.

"Yurgh, dardh?"

She felt the mattress dip at the foot of her bed. It dipped again further up, a little closer to her left knee.

"Go-" she heard her dad hiss.

"No, you do it-" a deeper voice, her daddy hissed back.

"No. _You_ go-"

"Why me?"

"Coz I already did the birds and the bees thing-"

She rolled her eyes "Yurh doo wealyzh I cunh hur yurh, ruyt?"

When neither of them replied, she huffed and flung the pillow away to glare at her fathers who smiled sheepishly back at her.

"Ok, you wanna tell me what's going on?"

"Well," Hiram, after being poked at the back by Leroy, cleared his throat. "We were hoping you'd tell us, baby girl."

Rachel groaned and lifted an arm to cover her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Her daddy's voice took on a softer tone. "Rachie, sweetheart-"

She peered at them from under her arm. They were both watching her with expectant looks on their faces.

"Do you, maybe, want to talk about it?"

"But if you're not ready-"

She sighed inwardly. "I do… I mean—I want to… I just…" Averting her eyes, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. "I… I don't really know what's going on-."

Hiram patted her knee encouragingly. "How about you start from the beginning?"

"There—I don't know if there's a beginning…"

"Ok," Leroy pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Let's try this: how about you tell us more about that little curve ball you threw us earlier today?"

"Oh. That, uhm—Quinn is…" Rachel frowned a little. "Quinn is my _friend_."

_She is, isn't she?_ _I'm sure we shook on it... Did we shake on it?_

"A _friend _that you go out on dates with-?"

"No. Not like that-"

"I'm not sure I'm following-"

"We're friends. Actually," she smiled a little. "We just became friends today."

Hiram squinted his eyes in an attempt to understand. "So you brought her to the party—as your _date_— and you only just became friends today?"

"We've known each other for a while-" Rachel tried to clarify. "She was Finn's girlfriend."

"Hudson? The one _you_ dated?"

"Yes. But we barely really interact in school or anything—"

"So, Quinn-" Leroy started ticking things off with his fingers. "She was Hudson's girlfriend, you barely know each other, you took her to the party as your date—I'm assuming she was your date _date _because that was how you introduced her—and you only really became friends today-"

"—Yes. After the party."

Leroy stared at his fingers, wriggling them as he mumbled softly to himself. Finally, he turned to Rachel with a perplexed look. "I'm sorry baby girl, but I can't seem to add things up."

Her shoulders slumped. "Neither can I."

Hiram, who had been silent for a while, nodded slightly. "So you girls aren't really dating."

Rachel felt warmth spread to her cheeks. There was no point in denying any further.

"No," she admitted softly. She stared down at her comforter. "No, we're not."

"Rachel-"

"I'm sorry." She glanced at them imploringly. "I'm so sorry I lied to you about dating her. I just didn't want to have to go through another blind set up."

"Oh, sweetie-" Hiram leaned over to envelop her in a hug, which she gladly returned. "We're sorry too."

"It was all really just in good fun," her dad explained.

"I'll make sure it never happens again."

"Especially now that you've finally found someone-"

_Whoah. Wait. Hold up—_

"Dad," she pulled back from the embrace. "I thought I made it clear that Quinn and I are _not _dating-"

"But oh, you'd like to, wouldn't you?"

_What? _

_No… _

_I don't…_

_Would I?_

Oh look, she's back to square one.

"I haven't really decided if I…if I'm-"

Leroy stood. "Well, whatever it is you decide to do," he kissed her forehead, "we're here for you, Rachel."

Smiling gratefully, she threw her arms around his shoulders. "I know," she murmured. "Thank you. I love you."

"We love you too, sweetie." Hiram squeezed her knee. "And, oh, you better decide soon. Your Aunt Mary wanted to invite both of you to a barbecue next week."

_Crap._

*o*o*o*

On Monday morning, Rachel adjusted the strap of her book bag before slinging it over her shoulder. The school parking lot was beginning to fill up and she looked around for a familiar face.

"Yo, Berry!"

She turned at the sound Noah's voice and grinned.

"Hey, Noah," she greeted as soon as he was within (speaking) hearing distance. "What a pleasant surprise. I've always thought Monday was still a part of your self-imposed three-day weekend."

"Nah. My weekends begin on Fridays." He smirked as they walked through McKinley's main door. "How was yours?"

"Fine…" her voice trailed off as her eyes fell on Quinn leaning against one of the lockers. "Uneventful."

* * *

Quinn had stopped paying attention to the playful banter between Santana and Brittany five minutes ago; her mind had wandered back to Rachel Berry.

As if it wasn't enough that she practically spent the whole day yesterday doing just that. She had actually made a bit of progress from Saturday night. She decided, after debating with herself well into the early hours of Sunday morning, since Rachel had cleared things up that she wasn't actually, _you know_, gay— she should best move on from the almost-kiss fiasco, filing it away as nothing more than a fluke. A rather unfortunate, ridiculous fluke.

She should instead be focusing on working on this _friendship _they had agreed to.

Whatever _that _entails, she hadn't the slightest idea.

_How we'll manage that, I don't fucking know..._

She leaned against the row of lockers, lazily glancing around the hallway. She raised an eyebrow at a freshman who dared hold her gaze. Rolling her eyes as the boy scurried away, she then turned her head towards the main entrance.

She could've sworn she had seen this on a dozen teen flicks before, but it was like the sea of students suddenly, magically parted.

To reveal Rachel Berry sauntering through.

Her right hand was grasping the strap of her book bag on her shoulder, while the other was tucked into the front pocket of her jeans. Her eyes- _Oh god, her eyes_- seemed to have found hers at the exact same moment she did hers.

There was a beat when Quinn thought she might choke on her heart which had apparently lodged itself in her throat. Her mouth fell open slightly as she watched Rachel lower her eyes a little bit before catching her gaze again.

The corner of the brunette's lips turned up slightly into a shy smile...

And then...

In a sort of blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment...

Rachel _winked _at her...

And teen flick cliches be damned...

She maybe, sorta, kinda swooned.

Just like that first time in Rachel's Jeep.

Quinn clutched her binder a little closer to her chest, as she tried not to stare at the shorter girl as she turned the corner.

This Rachel Berry Way of Subtly Greeting _Friends _in the Hallways kinda thing definitely needed a little bit of getting used to.

*o*o*o*


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this. ****I'm not sure how this turned out; do let me know, please.**

**POV will be shifting back and forth a bit. **

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd**

**Thanks for reading!  
**

***o*o*o*  
**

Rachel dropped the wrench in the toolbox on the table next to her as another _HONK!_ blared from the Ford pick-up truck on the street. Wiping her hands angrily on a rag, she stomped over to the parked truck. Sam waved at her from the passenger seat.

"Blast that horn one more time, Puckerman, I dare ya."She glared at Puck who was grinning behind the wheel.

"Hey, sorry. I was worried you wouldn't hear it since you were practically _in _the hood of that Jeep." The mohawked boy's grin widened.

"I thought I specifically told you to come around at 5 o'clock?" she narrowed her eyes further.

"Seriously, Berry! It _is_ 5 o'clock!"

"No," Rachel raised a finger and glanced at the watch on her other hand, "it's barely a quarter before five. If only you'd learn to—"

"Guys," Sam cut in as he threw both arms in the air. "The girls are waiting!"

Rachel, still a little miffed for being interrupted, raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "What?"

"Santana, Brit, and Quinn will be meeting up with us." Finn, who had been lounging in the back seat, spoke up.

_What?_

"And we wouldn't wanna keep them waiting." Sam added solemnly.

_When did this happen?_

Just then, a series of honks blasted from an approaching red Mustang. It veered left menacingly onto their side of the street and screeched to a stop inches from the front grill of the truck. The driver's side window rolled down to reveal a smirking Santana Lopez.

"Oh look, it's the Babysitter's Club." The Latina beamed at Rachel. "And they've recruited Bobbita the Mechanic—"

"S—" Quinn admonished from the backseat.

A small smile played at the corner of Rachel's lips as she met the blonde's eyes over Santana's shoulder. Quinn bit her lower lip lightly and mouthed "Hi" before settling back into the leather seat.

Rachel barely registered the loud banter between Santana and the boys as her gaze continued to stay locked with Quinn's. She hadn't seen the other girl around school much, save for a few seconds in between classes where she would unerringly spot her in the crowd and they would exchange subtle acknowledgement and small smiles from across the hall. She herself had been busy for the past couple of days as the Glee club had begun preparations for Sectionals and seeing Quinn again this close was like a breath of fresh air she hadn't realized she'd been deprived of.

And she couldn't help herself as she drank her in.

_This is bad. _

_This. _

_Is. _

_Bad._

But perhaps, at that moment, as Quinn—with her head cocked to the side and her flowing golden locks framing her face— held her gaze, she didn't mind being bad at all.

The corners of the blonde's lips quirked up slightly as even in the relative darkness of the vehicle's interior her eyes seemed to twinkle.

Nope—she definitely, definitely didn't mind at all.

"—when Ru—Berry here finally decides join us."

Santana mentioning her name finally shook her from the trance Quinn's eyes held her in.

She slowly shifted her eyes to the other brunette at the wheel. "Right, ok, let me just change into something more appropriate."

Santana made a show of checking her out, from her tank top covered torso down to her ripped jeans and flip flops.

"Not my particular cup of tea, but-"

"I think you look hot." Brittany, who had been staring at a Rubik's cube, piped in. "Doesn't she look hot, Q?"

Rachel's gaze flew to the head cheerleader, whose hazel eyes had widened slightly.

Without waiting for Quinn's response, Santana revved up the engine. "It's Luciano's, Berry, not the _W_."

"Too much talking! I want my calzone!" Puck yelled from his truck. "Get in here, Raquel!"

"Yeah," Finn was leaning out the window. "Come on in, Rach."

She thought she heard a soft grunt from the back seat before Santana clucked her tongue. "Hop in, Berry." In a louder tone, she added, "She rides with me; my heater broke this morning."

* * *

Quinn watched out of the corner of her eye as Rachel reached over to close the door. She fought to keep her breathing under control as her stomach continued to twist, tumble, and turn. She didn't sign up for all this internal gymnastics when she convinced Santana earlier to swing by Rachel's street; all she wanted, like she told the Latina, was to ensure the boys didn't hang around and waste precious time—her mother would be picking her up from the pizzeria at six.

She, of course, hadn't prepared herself for the onslaught to her senses as Rachel settled into the seat beside her.

_God she smells good—_

"You better not be stinking up my leather seats with your sweat, Berry-"

"I've barely perspired, Lopez. I also didn't like what you were insinuating about your heater-" Rachel huffed. She had her hands out gingerly in front of her, palms up and she seemed to be looking around the interior of the car.

"Oh, look! I'm feeling hot air already!" Santana smirked at the shorter brunette from the rear view mirror.

"I don't feel anything." Brittany shrugged as she flapped the air with her hands.

"What Santana meant, Brittany-"

"Do you need a towelette?" Quinn interrupted as she quickly rummaged through her backpack. "Here," she offered the box of moist tissues to Rachel.

"Oh. Thank you... uhm-" The brunette eyed the box. "Could you maybe- if you don't mind…?"

"Right," she pulled one out from the box, "here."

What she did next was quite possibly one of the most insane things she had ever done. With her left hand, she reached over and gently took the other girl's. Turning the small hand over slowly, she began to carefully wipe the dark smudges away, taking time to clean each finger, running the towelette from each knuckle up to the fingertip. Facing the palm up, she wiped with slow deliberate strokes, her thumbs lazily tracing the lines on Rachel's skin.

Her heart stopped when she felt the brunette's hand tremble a little.

_Oh… Oh god, Fabray—What the fuck are you doing?_

As soon as her thoughts caught up with her, she froze.

_Oh dear god—_

"You, uhm…" Rachel murmured beside her. Unwavering brown eyes found hers. "You missed a spot."

Maintaining eye contact and with her heart thundering back to life in her chest, she swiped her thumb broadly across the palm she still held, once… twice…

"Good enough for you?" she breathed out.

Rachel's lips turned up in a small smirk as she offered her other hand. "Why don't you finish me off first, then I'll let you know."

Quinn felt her cheeks burn at the playful undertone of the other girl's voice.

_Sweetmotherof—_

The other girl's smirk spread to a full-blown grin.

_Oh… _

_Well…_

"Well…" She arched an eyebrow as she took the offered hand and scratched the open palm lightly, chuckling softly as Rachel tried feebly to pull it back. She pulled out a fresh piece of towelette and turned the hand over. "Let me clean you up _really_ good."

"Yeah, you know, San…" Brittany chirped. "I think I kinda feel that hot air, too."

* * *

_She did not just say that… _

_Oh my fucking Barbra—_

Quinn was carefully wiping the spaces between her fingers.

_Oh my goodness…_

Brittany piped up from the front seat and hazel eyes widened in front of her.

_Oh g-d!_

Her lips quivered.

Quinn's brows twitched.

A beat later, both of them exploded with laughter.

"_Oy!_ _Dios mio_! Get out of my car, both of you!" Santana barked as she pulled into a parking space.

* * *

"I hope you know what you're doing, Q."

Quinn turned towards Santana who was walking a step behind her as they made their way from the parking lot.

"What are you talking about?" she hissed. She watched Rachel race Puck and Brittany to the entrance of the shop. The shorter girl yanked her arm to pull her closer. "Ow! Fuck, S!-"

"Listen, Fabray. I'm only gonna say this once—" Santana's grip on her arm tightened. "You better know what you're doing with Short Stack coz if this blows up in your face…"

She jerked her arm away and glared at her. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Lopez."

"Don't tell me you only just _magically_ decided to hang out with her without ulterior motives-"

She looked around. They were both left standing in the middle of the small parking lot. "I don't need an ulterior motive to hang out with her— or with anybody." She gritted out as she picked up her pace.

"If this is about Hudson-"

"What?" she turned back around, aghast.

"If you're planning on get back at her for being with Hudson-"

_What?_

"She's _with_ Finn?"

"Frankenteen's obviously been trying to get it on with her-"

"When did _this_ happen?"

"So it _is _about Hudson!"

"What? Fuck, no!"

"Then what-" Santana's stopped abruptly as her eyes widened. "Oh… holy sweet fucking hell…"

Quinn's hazel eyes matched her friend's bewildered state. _Oh shit—_

"What?" she took a couple of steps towards the other girl. "_What?_"

Santana's mouth was agape and she was nodding her head slowly. "Oh, I knew it. I get it now. I so totally get it…"

Quinn watched her stroll past, still nodding to herself with a disconcerted look on her face.

"What? What do you get?" She yelled at the retreating figure, as she jogged to keep up.

The other girl raised both arms in the air. "I get it!" she threw over her shoulder. "It's ok Quinnie, I _so_ get it!"

"_What?_"

* * *

"I'm gonna go get a salad." Rachel pushed her chair back to get up when the two pizzas arrived at the table.

She noticed Quinn look up at her. The blonde furrowed her brows as the other kids dug in. "Didn't we order one vegan-?"

"They don't have that veggie stuff here." Finn mumbled through a mouthful.

As she turned to leave, Quinn shot up from her seat. "I'll go with you."

"I thought Q hated vegetables." Brittany leaned towards Santana.

"She does." The other brunette shrugged as she lifted the slice of pizza off her plate.

*o*o*o*

"You hate vegetables." Rachel nudged the blonde as they stood at the salad bar.

"No I don't." Quinn claimed as she surveyed the bar.

With a small smile, she picked up a serving spoon and scooped up a couple of broccolis and dumped them carefully unto the blonde's plate. "Here, try some of these."

Quinn eyed the green vegetables and visibly swallowed. "Yeah… ok… uhm…"

With her smile threatening to encompass her face, she dumped a few slices of green bell peppers on her plate. "These are really good. I prefer them grilled, though."

"Grilled… yeah… of course."

"And beets are also really good for you-"

"Right, ok… you know what-"

"I love zucchinis! Don't you love zucchinis?"

She really shouldn't be enjoying this too much.

"Uhm, sometimes?" the blonde answered meekly.

But, oh, she was having a ridiculously glorious time.

"Quinn! How are you ever gonna eat all _that_?" Brittany asked as they approached the table.

Quinn inspected her plate, piled high with various vegetables, and smiled sweetly at Rachel.

"Think I'll have them blend it and just chug it down, or something."

A chorus of "Gross!" and "Eeews!" erupted from the table as they took their seats.

And as she chewed on a cucumber, her eyes met Quinn's across the table, over the hill of greens on the other girl's plate.

_Yeah… This friendship thing isn't so bad. _

_Not at all._

_

* * *

_

At six o'clock, Quinn heaved her backpack, letting the glass door of the pizzeria shut behind her. She fiddled with the strap as she stole a glance over her shoulder towards the interior of the shoppe.

Over the heads and through the cracks between the shoulders of Luciano's Wednesday afternoon regulars, her eyes unerringly found the chocolate orbs she sought.

All was well in Quinn Fabray's world.

*o*o*o*


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm in the middle of writing a seemingly never-ending, exhausting chapter. Here's a little something-something 'til then.**

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd.**

**POV will shift back and forth a bit.**

**Reviews are nice. Please feed me. =) Thanks for reading!**

***o*o*o***

Rachel opened door of the truck before reaching over to ruffle Puck's mohawk. "Thanks, Puckerman!"

"Do not-" Puck playfully slapped her hand away. "-touch The Mohawk!"

Chuckling to herself, she shut the door, and waved to Finn and Sam as the truck pulled away from the curb, before strolling up to the supermarket entrance. She pulled her phone from her back pocket, scanned the text her dad sent her, and started in the direction of the produce section.

A few minutes later, as she cradled the carton of soya milk, loaf of bread, and bunch of bananas in one arm, she fished for her phone again to check the time. A quick glance at the screen told her it was a little past 6:30. If she hurried, she should still be able to walk home before it got dark.

She picked up her pace as she approached the end of the aisle and as she reached the end, she saw a cart appear to her right from out of nowhere. Her hand shot out to block it before it hit her.

"Whoa, there!" she gasped as the force of cart's momentum caused her to stumble a couple of steps to her left.

"Oh my goodness! I'm sorry-" a vaguely familiar husky voice apologized.

"It's alri— Quinn?"

* * *

_She's with Finn? _

_Oh god, she's with Finn? _

_How could she be with him?_

_She never said she was._

_Did she?_

_But why?_

_Why... him?_

_Well, why not?_

_Dammit why can't it be… anybody… else…?_

A deep frown creased her forehead as she deliberately pushed the cart in front of her in frustration.

Her cart hit against something and it stopped abruptly, jarring her out of her thoughts.

_Oh shit!_

A girl stood a few feet away, holding onto to the front of her cart.

"Oh my goodness! I'm sorry-"

"Quinn?"

She stood rooted to the spot, her mouth agape, taking in the vision before her.

_Oh. My. God._

_Did I just conjure her from thin air?_

The _vision_ was staring back at her. It approached her slowly, never breaking eye contact, and stopped right in front of her.

And reached a hand up to touch her shoulder.

She shivered.

It quickly withdrew the hand away, as if burned. The small hand hovered over her arm though.

"Quinn?... Quinn are you alright?"

_Fuck, Fabray! Snap out of it!_

"Rach—el?" she managed to croak out.

The brunette was looking at her strangely. "Are you hurt?"

"Hurt?" she blinked, forcing her eyes to focus and her brain to catch up.

_Fu-_

"Oh my god, Rachel!" she gasped. The other girl arched a dark eyebrow in surprise. "I mean—oh, god… Are _you_ hurt? Did I hurt you?" Her hand fluttered listlessly in the air, wanting to inspect the other girl for possible injuries.

"Whoa, Quinn… Quinn." Rachel captured one of her hands and giggled lightly.

Quinn felt a hundred thousand pins prick deliciously down the length of her spine at the sound.

"Easy. I'm ok." She still had not let go of her hand. Her thumb was doing that gentle swirling thing again against the back of her hand—

_G-uh…_

"_You_ don't seem alright, though…"

"No!... I-" She glanced down at their joined hands as a wave of heat rose to her cheeks. "I'm just surprised—and…" Her eyes snapped back up to Rachel's face. "Oh dear! I'm sorry I hit you!"

Rachel's eyes lit up as a smile spread across her face. "You know, our previous little road _altercation_ might have affected you a little more than it should-" Her voice had lowered a little.

She gulped down a whimper. "You think?"

"Yeah," the brunette gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Judging by the way you just reacted, you've obviously been traumatized."

"I… I have?" She shook her head. "I doubt it."

Rachel stepped a little closer with a glint in her eyes. "Because I'm anything _but _traumatizing?"

…_!_

"Yeah… Something like that-"

_Clever, Fabray. _

"Well in any case," Rachel carefully laid her hand on the cart's handlebar, "we should stop meeting like _this_…" She gestured between them. "_Bumping _into each other-"

She really ought to be checking her blood pressure right about now because really-

"Bumping… Yeah. Good idea." She's sure her face must be as red as her uniform. "No more. Bumping. And stuff…"

Rachel took a small step back and tilted her head to the side. "Unless, you know—you'd _want_ to…"

_Would I want to— _

_What is she trying to do to me?_

* * *

She really really _really _shouldn't be doing this.

_But really… _

_A little flirting here and there couldn't hurt…could it?_

And it wasn't like Quinn was shying away from it. If anything, like during that little exchange between them in Santana's car, she had been playing along for the most part.

_Except right now she isn't—_

The Queen Bee was staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights, her mouth flapping open and shut wordlessly.

* * *

_Fabray! Focus!_

She cleared her throat a little. Rachel was still watching her with a small smirk tugging at her lips.

_Oh. You wanna play, Berry?_

She nipped on her lower lip as she took a step closer towards the brunette. "If _you_'re up for it— I definitely wouldn't mind _bumping _into you again…" Her heart threatened to pound itself out of her chest. "… and again…" She trailed a finger along Rachel's arm resting on the cart's handlebar. "…and _again…_"

* * *

_Oh g-d…_

She watched, entranced, as Quinn's finger grazed the crook of her elbow.

_Is this… appropriate?_

She's never really had friends of the same gender outside of the Glee club and she had never indulged in playful flirting with any of them either- she had never actually been inclined to do so. Not at all.

But Quinn? Quinn Fabray was an entirely different case.

They have been _friends _for barely a week and yet here they were being… stuff and well… _stuff._

There was something magical about the way the Ice Queen seemed to melt right before her very eyes as she tossed and parried playful remarks with her.

It was rather fascinating.

She had, of course, witnessed the head cheerleader turn on the charm before— she's friends with Noah and Puck and Sam after all. But to be on the actual receiving end of it? It was nothing short of exhilarating.

And she just couldn't seem to get enough.

And with that, she realized she had maybe been digging herself into a massive hole all this time—one that she'd unlikely be able to crawl out of unscathed_._

Even then, at that very moment, as Quinn's finger continued to trail a path of fire up her bare arm, she could barely remember her own name-

"Rachel Barbra Berry!"

_Ohmygod—_

They both shuffled guiltily away from each other as the female voice called out again.

"Rachel! Pumpkin Pie!"

_Oh no oh no oh no!_

She spun around to find her Aunt Mary, pushing a cart, coming up the aisle. The elder woman threw her arms around her and planted a big kiss on her cheek.

"Baby girl, what are you doing here?"

She grimaced slightly as her aunt crushed her in an embrace. She sneaked a glance at Quinn whose face was flushed as she made a show of counting the items in her own cart.

"Just, uhm. picking up a few things for Dad and-"

"Quinn!" The plump woman must have noticed her friend. She released her hold of Rachel and ambled over to envelop the other girl the same crushing embrace. "How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm fine, Mary. And yourself?"

"Oh! I've been so busy! Don't even get me started!" She pretended to wipe her brow before grinning widely at Quinn. "You're coming to the barbecue, aren't you?"

_Crap._

The other girl's eyebrows shot up. "Uhm.."

"Aunt M, she's-"

Mary was still looking at Quinn expectantly. "Did Rachel tell you I had to move it to the week after next?" She turned back to her. "Did your father tell you I moved it?"

"No, he didn't— But Aunt M, you see… Quinn-"

"-wouldn't miss it for the world," the blonde smiled at her aunt warmly.

* * *

_What?_

_Fabray what do you think you're—_

"Quinnie?" her mother's voice called out.

_Oh shit._

"Mom!" she gaped as her mother strolled towards her.

"Did you get that sparkly water because I couldn't find it— Oh!" Judy Fabray stopped short as she noticed Rachel and Mary standing off to the side. "Hello."

Rachel was sporting a strained smile as she waved once. "Good evening, Mrs. Fabray."

"Hello, dear." Judy leaned over to give the brunette a quick hug. "Nice to see you again." She took in the items Rachel had in her arms. "Doing a little shopping?"

"Hello!" Mary exclaimed, extending a hand towards the other woman. "I believe, in these girls' love-induced state, they wouldn't be able to introduce us properly-"

_Sweet Cheesus!_

"Mary Berry. I'm Rachel's aunt."

Judy, after throwing Quinn a look, shook the offered hand. "Judy Fabray."

"We were just talking about-"

She saw Rachel's eyes widen.

"-how the inflation had affected the prices of commodities so much. Would you believe 1.5%? It's considerably lower from last year's and although we're moving into the final quarter, the forecasts for next year do not look promising at all."

Three pairs of eyes stared back blankly at the shorter girl; one pair more glassy than the others.

_Oh. _

_Wow._

_That's… hot._

* * *

Judy started to nod slowly. "I know what you mean. At the rate we're going-"

"Mary! What's taking you so long?"

She choked as her Uncle Jesse's voice rang out.

_What—what?_

"I'm done, honey. Rachie bear is here. And Quinn. And Judy."

"Judy?" Jesse walked up and kissed her on the forehead.

"_I'm_ Judy." Quinn's mother offered her hand, which Jesse shook enthusiastically. "Judy Fabray."

She steadied herself against Quinn's cart as she watched Jesse shake hands with Judy… Judy, whose Lexus she fixed… in her Uncle's garage… her Uncle, who was shaking Judy's hand… Judy, whose daughter, Quinn, she was apparently fake-dating… Quinn, who was watching the same scene with an identical horrified expression on her face as hers.

_I think I'm just about ready to faint._

"If I faint and fall over, will you catch me?" She heard Quinn murmur silently next to her.

Without taking her eyes off the three adults, who seemed to have fallen into a discussion about the price of bread, she leaned in a little closer towards the taller girl.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"You wanna do it together? That might break this little powwow up before-"

"On three?"

"One-"

"Two-"

"Isn't that right, Rachel?" Jesse suddenly turned to her.

_Fudge!_

"Sorry, Uncle J, I didn't catch that-" she smiled sheepishly.

"I was just telling Judy here how adept you are with cars." Her uncle said, pride obviously lacing his words.

_Hoo boy! _

He smiled adoringly at her before addressing Judy again. "She's a magician."

"Is that right?" Judy beamed. "I heard some faint rattling from under the hood of my Lexus this morning and-"

"Lexus?" Jesse raised his eyebrows at her.

"A 4x4-"

"I'm sure it's nothing, Mom!" Quinn interjected. "And oh, look at the time!"

She caught on quickly. "Right. I have to get these home, too." She gestured to the load on her arm.

"Oh dear!" Judy gasped as her hand flew to cover her mouth. "Thank you for reminding me, Quinnie! I have to make a call."

She heaved a sigh of relief as the adults said their goodbyes. She watched with bated breath as Judy walked off to the side with her mobile phone pressed to her ear. Jesse and Mary lined up at the counter.

"So, uhm-" she turned to grin at the blonde.

"Yeah…" Quinn was biting back a smile.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but- did you just invite yourself to an afternoon of barbecue with me and my crazy relatives?"

"I might have."

"Cool."

"Cool."

*o*o*o*


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This is more on Quinn… Aaaaand in which Rachel gets thrown around like a rag doll…**

**POV will still be shifting back and forth a bit **

**Still not mine; still unbeta'd**

**Reviews are always much appreciated. Thanks for reading!**

***o*o*o***

"Ok, Q." Santana slammed her locker shut and turned to face Quinn with her hands on her hips. "Spill."

It was Monday afternoon in the Cheerios locker room, five days since that lovely encounter at the grocery; two days since another sleepless Saturday night of pondering and self-inquisition.

She honestly did not know what compelled her to accept that invitation. It wasn't like she was obligated to go or anything.

Maybe she just couldn't say no to Aunt Mary.

Or maybe she just wanted to spend a little bit more time with Rachel.

Rachel...

_I don't know—I don't even know anymore._

Quinn glanced around at the couple of cheerleaders still milling around. She let out an exasperated sigh as she pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

She was not going to be talking about this right here, right now.

Not that there was anything to talk about, really.

Well perhaps there was.

She's not quite sure.

Not… just yet.

"Your timing is impeccable," she growled after glaring at the other girls in the room.

"Your subtlety fails on so many levels," the Latina hissed back with a smirk.

She harrumphed, zipping up her backpack forcefully.

"What? You think I haven't seen you practically _drooling_-"

"Stop being such an ass."

"Stop being such a _wuss_-"

"The hell?" she straightened up, whipping around to face the other girl leaning against the row of lockers.

Santana fixed her with a look. "It's no big deal, Q-"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The other girl eyed her as she pushed herself away from the locker.

"_Just_ like you don't know how much staring you've been doing it's almost nauseating? Or like how many times you've randomly brought the name up within the last five days? Thirty-two, by the way, I've been keeping count. And oh," she shrugged, "like how you _didn't_ know you polished off a plateful of motherfuckin' veggies that day-"

"I _don't_ like her, for fuck's sake!"

Santana gasped and clasped her hand to her chest in mock surprise. "So you _do_ know what I'm talking about-"

"I—I don't…"

"Look, Q. Not that I really care, or anything—but it would really do you a lot of good if you just own up to whatever shit that's going on—"

"Shut it, S, before I-"

"-_before _you open your mouth and another Rachel Berry falls out?"

_What?_

"You think you're funny."

"I think I'm right."

"Are we ready to go?" They suddenly both turned towards Brittany who had a bag of chips in one hand and a bottle of lemonade in the other. "I really wanna get the good seats today."

"Good seats?" Quinn furrowed her brows in mild confusion. "And why do you have junk food with you?"

"You're gonna be hanging out at the bleachers again today, right? Just like last Thursday? And Friday?" The taller blonde beamed at her. "San and I are joining you."

Santana was biting back a smile. "I hear there's a rousing game of touch football going on again right about now on the field"

"I…we…" she felt her face flame up as she avoided the Latina's eyes.

"Good," Brittany started for the door. "I wanna sit a little lower today. I couldn't see Rachel from so high up where you were last time. She's so tiny!"

* * *

Rachel planted her right foot on the ground as she faked left. In a sudden burst of speed, she pivoted to the right, just as Finn lunged for her. Twisting her upper body to avoid the tag, she tucked the football beneath her right arm as she made a mad dash for the 50-yard line. She had gained about ten feet when she suddenly had the wind knocked out of her as someone tackled her, quite roughly, to the ground.

* * *

She gasped as Rachel hit the ground. Next to her, she vaguely heard Santana hiss, "Ouch."

_What the fuck-?_

She didn't have the time to stop and think about her sudden concern for Rachel—or the urge to strangle Sam Evans- at that very moment.

"Was he supposed to do that?" Brittany asked in shock.

"No," she gritted out. She watched in apprehension, balling her fists on her lap, as Sam rolled off the small girl.

* * *

"Urgh!" Rachel grunted as her left shoulder collided with the grassy surface. Someone's arm was gripping her by the waist. She fought to catch her breath as her shoulder started to numb a little.

_That's definitely gonna leave a bruise._

"What the hell, Evans!" she heard someone yell. Puck.

"Sorry." Sam was panting against her neck.

"Get off of me." Rolling over, she pushed the boy away as she shakily struggled to get up.

"Rach are you ok?" Puck jogged up to her and carefully pulled her to her feet.

She shook her head a little and threw Sam, who was just starting to get up, a look. "Yeah..."

* * *

She had never been more relieved in her life than when Rachel gingerly stood up with Puck's help.

She would be worrying over her inexplicable concern over the brunette at a later time.

Just right about after she maimed Sam Evans.

* * *

Puck stomped over to the blonde boy and shoved him. "What the hell was that, Evans?"

"I said I was sorry."

"What part of _touch _football didn't you understand?-"

"Noah-" Rachel grabbed Puck's arm.

He shook her hand away and shoved Sam again. "Not cool, dude."

"Puckerman!" she pulled him by the back of his shirt. "It's cool. Come on, let's just play-"

Puck was still glaring at the other boy. "You try that shit one more time-" he growled, jabbing a finger at him.

"Hey, hey!" Finn had stepped in between the two boys. "Come on, let's just call it a draw for today, alright?"

"There's no fucking _draw _in football." Puck muttered as he picked up the pigskin and started walking off the field, still fuming. Mike and Matt, each shoving Sam as they passed, jogged after him.

Finn turned and walked up to her. "You ok, Rachel?" He asked as he plucked a blade of grass from her hair. "You've got grass all over you-"

"I'm fine." She took a step away from him and she surveyed her clothing. A wide patch of dirt had soiled her left sleeve and the better portion of the lower half of her shirt. "Ugh!"

"You sure?"

She rolled her eyes at the tall boy as she grabbed her shirt, arched her back and pulled it off, leaving the white tank top she had on underneath.

* * *

Her eyes narrowed as Finn ambled forward to touch Rachel's hair.

_Keep your clammy paws to yourself, Hudson..._

Her heart soared a little when Rachel stepped back and- _sweetmotherofg-h!—_ and it jumped right up to her throat as Rachel peeled her shirt off.

_Oh lord-_

The hem of the tank top Rachel wore underneath the shirt had ridden up to expose her abdomen. Choking on her own breath, she abruptly looked away as blood rushed to her face. She trembled slightly at the image of the brunette arching her back and pulling her shirt off that flashed relentlessly in her mind's eye.

_Oh my god—_

She fixed her eyes studiously on the ground.

_I'm not looking. I'm not looking._

_I'm. Not. Looking._

This was ridiculous. She was sure she was mature enough to look at another _girl_ in a form-fitting, sweat-drenched, white tank top without exploding into a thousand tiny little bits.

_Maybe if I… maybe a peek won't hurt… _

_God, Fabray! Just look already!_

As nonchalantly as she could, she shifted in her seat and raised her eyes.

_Sweet baby Jesus!_

Rachel tugged her top down over her exposed stomach, but not before she caught another glimpse of toned, tanned skin.

One peek of Rachel's toned abs and she's a disgusting puddle of goo.

_Fuck._

And she honestly thought she was a bit deeper than that.

* * *

Rachel proceeded to playfully (_but not really_) hit the blonde boy with the soiled shirt. "You're paying for dry-cleaning, you oaf!"

"I will, I'm sorry! I got carried away-"

She pulled the hem of her top down and whipped him with the shirt across his chest. "Oh, sorry-" She hit him again on his shoulder. "I'm getting-" The shirt connected with his hip. "—carried-" She hit his chest again. "—away!"

Sam had his arms up, covering his face. "Ok! Ok! I'm really sorry!"

"Ok. Uhm…" Finn stuttered, his eyes flitting all over the place as he tried to look anywhere but her. "I'm gonna go, uh, take a shower now, ok? Uh... Yeah…" He stumbled on his feet. "Sam, uh, you coming?"

She noticed Sam's eyes dart towards the bleachers when he finally caught her shirt before it walloped him in the face. He nodded at Finn, "Yeah."

Curiously, she lifted her eyes towards the far end of the stands.

* * *

"What I wanna know is _why _you two have been sneaking behind my back." She crossed her arms as she slumped in the back seat. As much as she was on a high from her daily dose of Rachel, she was still a little miffed when it finally dawned on her that her two best friends had been spying on her. That was _unforgivable._

_Can't I stalk in peace, for heaven's sake?_

_Wait-_

"We weren't Quinn." Brittany turned around in her seat up front to flash her a toothy smile. "I said hi both times but you didn't hear me. San finally said to just leave you alone. But I _didn't_ wanna leave you alone. And I thought it was really fun watching Rachel run around the field like a little chipmunk on crack-."

"What _I _wanna know," Santana chimed in as they stopped at the light, "Is how long you've been lusting after Smurfette-"

"Don't call her that-" she immediately mumbled, slightly affronted.

The Latina's eyebrows shot up as she grinned at her from the rear view mirror. "See what I mean? How long has this been going on, Q?"

"Nothing's going on." She pouted at the other girl before staring out the window.

"Awwww… Little Quinnie's confused…"

"Shut up, S."

Brittany giggled and clapped her hands. "It's cute! You and Rachel are too cute!"

"It's not! We're _not_!" She snapped. "Shut up, both of you-"

"Ooh! Did you see the way Rachel wave at her, Britbrit?"

"Was she waving? I thought she was swatting a fly-"

"And did you see the way Quinn blushed when she waved back?"

"Was she blushing? It though she smeared lipstick on her cheeks-"

_Oh for fuck's sake!_

_

* * *

_

"He'd know better than to pull another stunt like that again."

Rachel stuffed her textbook in her locker and smiled gratefully at Puck. "He just got carried away yesterday," she offered as she shut the steel door. "But thanks, that's really sweet."

Puck gave her a lopsided grin. "You know I always got your back."

"I know-"

Then she saw it happen out of the corner of her eye.

The blue liquid hit Kurt Hummel squarely in the face and splashed onto his clothes.

Heaven help her, she didn't think twice. Ignoring the confused "Rachel-?" from Puck, she half-ran half-stomped after the laughing Azimio.

She heaved her full body weight at the football player. He let out a _whoomp _as her elbow dug into his midsection before he careened and crashed against the steel lockers with a sickening crunch.

* * *

It was an event previously unheard of in McKinley. She stood, along with a handful of other students in the hall, in shocked silence as the loud, mocking laughter of Azimio Adams rang out.

Kurt Hummel, who-as she learned from her countless hours of (stalking) observing—was a member of the Glee Club, stood trembling by his locker, his designer clothes dripping with artificially-colored frozen corn syrup.

"Whooh! That felt good! Loser!" Azimio guffawed as he strolled away, a big empty cup of slushie in hand.

Then everything happened almost in a blur. One second, the tall burly football player was sauntering along, and then he was suddenly crashing against the row of lockers in the next.

Rachel Barbra Berry- all of her 5 feet 2 self- stood panting, glowering over him.

_Rachel!_

Azimio, disoriented from the initial shock, snarled and pushed himself up. He growled as he lunged for the girl.

"No-!" she croaked out as a wave of horror wracked her.

* * *

"Yep," Puck winced as he touched his cracked lower lip "I got your back."

She smiled in spite of herself but immediately regretted it as the blossoming bruise on her left temple where Azimio's elbow landed throbbed painfully.

"If The Bieste hadn't stepped in, I would've beaten his sorry ass-"

"I don't doubt that, Noah." Their eyes met in silent understanding. "Thanks," she whispered before fixing her eyes on the bloodied cloth on his lap.

Puck nodded grimly. "That was stupid, you know." He glared at her as he got up to leave. "Totally badass— but still really, really stupid."

"Where are you going?" she asked as she watched him reach for the door of the clinic. "The nurse told you to stay put-"

"Are you kidding?" he said incredulously. "_I'm_ too badass to hang around here."

* * *

She found her sitting on one bed, her shoulders slumped, and staring at the empty one across from her.

"Puck asked me to remind you that you were really stupid."

Rachel looked up then and gave her a somewhat surprised but still a little cheeky smile. "So I've been told." She gingerly touched the bruise on her temple. "I'm lucky he missed my nose."

She carefully sat down beside her. "You're _lucky_ he didn't pulverize you."

The brunette scoffed.

"I'm serious," she tried to catch her eyes. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't." There was a lilt at the end of the statement. "It was all a blur— where is he, anyway?"

"Word is he's probably gonna be suspended." She sighed helplessly. "Rach, you shouldn't go around throwing yourself like that against people twice your size."

"But _he_ just can't go around doing stuff like _that_ to people-" She met her gaze squarely. "-especially not to my friends."

She swallowed against the lump that had formed in her throat. This was a side of the brunette she never would've imagined she'd get to see: Rachel Berry, the fiercely loyal friend—willing to sacrifice life and limb to defend a friend's honor.

It was rather heroic.

But still profoundly stupid.

And it scared the shit out of her.

"Let them fight their own battles, for fuck's sake-" Brown eyes blinked at the tone of her voice. "I…" she dropped her gaze to the white bedspread, feeling her face flush. "You just got me worried there for a sec-"

"It was worth it."

"Rach, people are always gonna be mean. You can't stop that." She couldn't help herself as she leaned in a little closer to graze her fingertips gently along the edges of the bruise. "You can't be a hero to everybody" she continued softly.

"I'd do it for my friends," Rachel replied just as softly. Her eyes scanned her face before finally holding her gaze. "I'd do the same for you."

Her breath hitched at the quiet admission, the silent promise. "I… I'm your _friend_?"

Rachel nodded slightly. "We shook on it." She watched, mesmerized, as brown eyes began to twinkle. "Didn't we shake on it?"

*o*o*o*

Friday morning in Physics, as she waited for the bell to ring, she found herself studying the other girl's profile. She mentally slapped herself for her inability to look away from her perfectly Jewish nose, her bright, clever brown eyes, and her rather… _interesting_ mouth.

Rachel was… well... attractive…

Very attractive.

But so were a million other girls—

_-Boys! _

She. Meant. _Boys._

Fuck, how could she not stop staring at her?

_Oh goodness-_

A choking and dangerous tightening rose in her chest at the weight of the impending self-revelation.

_Ok..._

So maybe she was... _attracted_ to her... quite perplexedly so...

_Nothing wrong with that..._

Rachel tucked a strand of silky brown hair behind her ear. The deep purple, egg-sized bruise on her temple contrasted garishly with her smooth tanned skin.

She felt that sharp tug in her chest.

Her hazel eyes widened.

_Oh… oh my-_

"What are we playing?"

Her eyes widened even further as the finally took notice that the other girl had been watching her.

"Oh! I get it." Rachel's mouth twitched. She shifted in her chair to face her fully. "Kung Fu Staring Contest, go!" She widened her own chocolate eyes as she stared back at her.

Ok she maybe, sorta, kinda just snorted.

_Oh, this girl—_

"You're such a dork, Berry."

Rachel's eyes remained unblinking. "Yeah. But I'm a charming dork." She widened her eyes even more. "Now stop talking. You're cheating!"

Ok... Well...

That might have just about sealed it.

Quinn knew she had never been… well… in love. The word caused her to shiver a little. She had been with Finn for the most part of freshman year, and she may have felt a flutter every time the boy held her hand or kissed her lightly on the lips. Nevertheless, the glaring difference between her fleeting memory of her emotions for the lumbering ex-quarterback and the way she had been feeling around Rachel was enough to let her know that the way she seemed to be bending her attitude for the brunette had something to do with her…

Her heart.

And right then it leaped, cantered, and tumbled.

She gulped down a whimper.

She was maybe, sorta, kinda falling for Rachel Berry…

Charming dorkiness with a slight hero complex and all.

*o*o*o*


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I apologize this update took a while. Thank you all for somehow not giving up on it.**

**Still not mine; don't sue. ****POV will still be shifting back and forth a bit** .

**I'd also like to give a _HUGE_ shout-out to ****T... _You're amazing! Thank you soooo much!_**

**Reviews are always welcome.**

**Thanks for reading!**

***o*o*o***

Rachel has never been one to encourage anything other than complete and rapt attention in class- or well, while waiting for it— really, it's the _principle_. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the blonde staring at her a moment ago.

With her heart hammering quite irrationally in her chest, she had planned on catching her gaze, and maybe smile in that suave way she sees in the movies, and ask her if there was something—_anything_— she needed. She might have wanted to throw in a British accent too—because, well, _it's_ _sexy_.

Only, that totally didn't happen; that embarrassingly dorky side of her brain decided to take over and issued the—_whatthefuck— _ Kung Fu Staring Contest challenge.

She internally rolled her eyes. _Geez, Berry, you're so smooth, it's ridiculous._

When Quinn let out a little snort as she shifted in her chair to face her, arched a brow and locked eyes with her in acceptance of her _challenge_, she was met with a sharp, almost piercing stare. Then, a second or two later—well, there it was: a sudden, almost imperceptible shift in those eyes. She stared back in slight awe as hazel orbs seemed to soften as they focused on her and she watched, fascinated, as specks of gold swirled and danced within those depths.

_Oh… Oh dear…_

Involuntarily, her own eyes fluttered, as she felt a jolt inside her chest. She may have momentarily forgotten about breathing—

"You lose," Quinn murmured, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You're not very good at that," she chided softly before swiveling around to face the front of the room at the sound of the bell.

She let out the breath she had been holding with a silent whoosh and bit savagely on the inside of her cheek. And in that moment, she knew— in that way you just know things sometimes— Quinn Fabray had just about reeled her in.

_Totally, utterly, irrevocably so._

*o*o*o*

She sat quietly at lunch- not for the first time- totally fixated by thoughts of Quinn, oblivious to the ruckus of the boys huddled around her, or the noisy clatter of the crowd filling up the lunchroom. All the while her eyes have been flitting between the Cheerios table across the room-three seats at the head still conspicuously vacant-and the cafeteria door.

Not that, you know, she had been wondering where the blonde was. It's only been four and a half minutes into the lunch hour, after all.

_Where is she?_

Her eyes glared at the swinging doors.

And almost as if she willed it, the cafeteria door flew open to reveal three Cheerios sashaying in.

_Oh Moses—_

Quinn, with her hands on her hips, glided in.

_Full crush alert._

A fair eyebrow arched in that curtsy-before-me-or-get-out-of-the-way way of hers as students parted to let the trio through.

_Full, a hundred thousand percent, old fashioned crush._

She could not take her eyes off her even if she tried. The sunlight streaming through the large windows caught the ends of her golden hair and _oh dear _she had never looked so good in that red uniform. She watched as Quinn led Santana and Brittany over to the Cheerios' table the blonde's eyes found hers- in that way they always do- and the corner of soft, pink lips tugged up in a soft smile.

Her heart suddenly did a half flip, a toeless lutz and a one-and-a-half toe loop in rapid succession, and she tucked a strand of hair behind an ear, her face flushed, as she returned the other girl's smile.

Dazedly, she's now somehow aware that she had reverted to the behavior of a twelve-year old.

_Heavens, I wouldn't be surprised if I started doodling 'Rachel + Quinn'— with a heart dotting the i — at the back of my notebooks._

Not that she'd actually revert to that kind of juvenile behavior. Not really.

_Not yet, at least._

* * *

Quinn's eyes flew open to the sound of birds chirping happily right outside her bedroom window and a smile slowly spread on her face.

_Freedom!_

_She was officially ungrounded—_

_Freedoooooooom!_

Smirking as she threw her covers off, she sat straight up and flung her legs over the side of the bed.

_But today the way I play the game is not the same, oh yeah!_

She spread her arms out, threw her head back. "Think I'm gonna get me some haaaaaaappy!"

_Pause._

"Quinnie?" A knock and a beat later, the door cracked open and Judy popped her head in. "I was wondering if you were up-"

"I'm up-" She whipped around to face the door and pinned her arms to her side, "obviously."

Her mother's eyes twinkled. "Right… We're picking up your car from the shop today-?"

"Yup!" she started to walk backwards towards the adjoining bathroom. "I'll be ready in 30-"

*o*o*o*

She reached for her make-up bag, and spent another fifteen minutes alternately applying and removing make-up. She wanted to put something on which looked natural and subtle, yet defined.

Not that she was actually taking the time to fix herself up in the (planned) chance event she bumped into _someone _she knew around town.

She'd gathered from the grapevine (Jacob) that a certain brunette almost always, without fail, jogs four laps around the park at the corner of 6th and Main.

She would later worry about how the school's resident perv knows about this tidbit and what she will do to him if she ever finds out he'd been stalking her. There were far more important things to figure out at the moment.

_So, how do you show someone you're interested in them?_

She wrinkled her nose and tried to recall the rules from Teen Vogue: **If a girl was attracted to a boy**… well, attracted to _anyone_—**her pupils will dilate. **

_Can't do anything about that now, can I?_

**She would also unconsciously lean forward, laugh at their jokes, and expose her wrists and palms.**

_What?_

Experimentally, she leaned a little towards her reflection, holding out her palms as she did so.

_I look like Jesus._

She tried adding a flirty little laugh. "Heeheehee!" she exclaimed, "Oh, Rach! You're too funny!"

_I look like a laughing Jesus._

She groaned loudly in frustration as Judy called for her downstairs.

_Really, should it really be THIS hard?_

* * *

Rachel tugged the dog leash when it stretched taut as the little Yorkshire terrier yapped playfully at a passing jogger.

It was a crisp Saturday morning. She had stepped out onto the porch earlier for her morning run and was pulling her hoodie on when Puck's truck screeched to a stop at the curb. With a promise of a guitar lesson and a flash of his disarming smile, he had her grudgingly clambering into the passenger seat.

They had been sitting on the park bench for fifteen minutes when she had felt the stirrings of impatience.

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" she ground out, irritated by Puck's behavior, who was leaning back against the bench leisurely.

"Because, sitting at a park bench with a dog is an excellent way to meet chicks," he replied with assured cockiness. "Chicks dig dogs."

She raised an eyebrow at him pointedly. "You don't even own a dog. Where did you even get this pooch from?"

Puck shrugged, "I borrowed it."

She snorted. "A _terrier_? Really?"

"Beggars can't be choosers."

"You think girls will actually believe _you _own this little fella?"

"That's why you're holding onto _her_-"

"-and what will you be doing?"

"I'm just gonna sit here and be badass and awesome and when girls stop to coo at her, I'm gonna-" he made a swiping motion with his hand, "swoop right in."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Remind me again why I agreed to be an accessory to your misogynistic endeavors?"

"I tapped into your anal need to be the Ultimate Supreme Badass Chick," he poked her side playfully. "Seriously, Rach, who do you even plan on serenading?"

Her cheeks flamed at the question.

She wasn't really actually going to serenade her, _for Barbra's sake…_

-At least not until she has gathered sufficient evidence that the blonde would be agreeable to it.

_Really, Berry—how hard have you fallen?_

But has she?

Really?

She had tried to convince herself over the past couple of weeks that this thing with Quinn was nothing more than a small case of infatuation. Quinn was, after all, rather beautiful and she could be really charming.

But from the lurch and flip of her stomach, it was beginning to seem like maybe she was feeling something a little bit more.

She and Quinn were, well, _friends—_that, she was fairly sure of.

Until recently, that is.

Do _friends_ regularly engage in _harmless _flirting- tossing and parrying playful innuendos at each other?

Do _friends _often find themselves in endless staring contests with each other, sharing furtive glances across the lunchroom or from opposite ends of the hall?

Does one's heart hum ecstatically at the mere thought of one's… _friend_?

_Friendship_ seemed to fuzz at the edges as she looked back at the recent developments of her relationship with the blonde. There was a sudden lightness in her lower stomach and a shiver ran up her spine at the thought.

"Also," the boy continued, "this would be an excellent way to meet _new_ girls-"

She glanced at him skeptically. "What's wrong with the girls at McKinley?"

"Nobody catches the Puckasaurus' fancy no more-" He shrugged noncommittally.

_You have got to be kidding-_

"_Well_," she huffed, affronted "McKinley happens to be brimming with ladies of exceptional beauty and grace, who are not only intelligent but are also extremely witty—not to mention unbelievably talented and blessed with stunning eyes and a husky, eargasmic voice… " Her voice trailed off; Puck was watching her and wearing a rather amused expression. "Or, you know…" She cleared her throat as she felt warmth spread up to the tips of her ears. "—but what do I know…"

She threw Puck a look before pulling her legs up on the bench and crossing them; she leaned an elbow on her left thigh, and rested her chin on her palm. She turned her head indignantly away from the boy whistling silently to her right as she let her other hand, the one holding onto the leash, lay limply on her knee.

_Eargasmic? Really, Berry? Really?_

"Awww! What a cutie!" she heard a girl coo a couple of minutes later.

She rolled her eyes. She hated it when Puck's right about girls sometimes.

"She is, isn't she?" She could almost hear the smirk in the boy's reply. "Would you like to pet her?"

"If it's ok with her," the girl giggled.

She held back a snort.

"Sure, it is. Here," Puck offered. "See? She likes being scratched behind her ears."

There was a brief pause before the girl let out a small chuckle. "Oh," there was a faint trace of uncertainty in her voice. "Well, yeah, I _guess_ your dog's pretty cute, too."

_What?_

She turned her head around to find sparkling blue eyes and a megawatt smile.

* * *

"Seriously Q, it's too early on a Saturday morning to be so chipper." Santana slumped down in the front seat next to her.

Having dropped her mother off back home after picking her car up from the shop, she had intended to spend the first day of her newly regained freedom at the mall. Being a little too early in the day for that, she decided the park may be a good place as any to kill some time first.

She heard it's a rather interesting place to go people watching. Saturday morning _joggers_ can be…entertaining.

"Oh shush, Santana!" Quinn adjusted her rearview mirror; Brittany was sprawled in the backseat. "Buckle up."

"She's right, Q." Brittany yawned. "What time is it? I've only had two hours of sleep, tops."

As Santana smirked while she put on her aviators next to her, she rolled her eyes and backed the Mini Cooper out of the Lopez driveway. "You and your shenanigans-"

"Shenanigans? Really, Fabray?" The Latina guffawed. "You've been stalking Berry far too much-"

* * *

"Hi," Blake was grinning down at her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Puck gaping at the statuesque blonde.

She might have been too, actually, who knows?

Puck nudged her and she managed a croaked "Hi". She cleared her throat as Blake's grin stretched wider.

"May I-" the blonde's voice trailed off a little, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "—scratch you behind your ears?"

Puck choked on his own breath.

She couldn't help the smirk that pulled at her lips when she realized what Blake was doing. "Hmmm," she pretended to think it over. "Maybe not today…"

"You'll let me know then, if I may-" the blonde tilted her head to the side. "—_pet _you?"

The boy next to her let out a tiny whimper.

"Oh, I will." She returned her lopsided smile, "You know… I haven't seen you around these parts before-"

The blonde arched her back and pulled one knee up to her chest; Puck's eyes just about fell from their sockets.

She snickered at the absolute absurdity of it all.

"I've been told the _view _was a lot better around here," Blake straightened up to her full height. "So…maybe I'll see you around?"

"You will."

With a short wave, the blonde put her headphones back on and began to jog away, but not before looking over her shoulder and flashing her an impish grin.

"Wow-" Puck whispered in awe next to her. "…_wow_."

Still snickering, she leaned over to pet the dog's head. "You done good, girl," she cooed. "You done _gooood_."

"What was _that_?" Puck, mouth still agape, was regarding her with wide-eyed astonishment.

"That," she grinned, "was your theory being put to practice."

Blake was brilliantly devious; she had to give her that.

Puck continued to gape at her for another ten seconds. "Do you… do you _know_ her?"

Flashbacks of _that_ fateful day filtered through her mind. She smiled wistfully. "I might've met her before-"

"No shit." Puck rubbed his hand over his strip of hair. "And if I hadn't known better, I'd say she was hitting on you-"

She shrugged, willing her face from flushing.

A beat later, the boy's eyes widened. "Holy fuck! She was! She totally was and-" a grin slowly made its way across his face. "Berry, you were enjoying it!"

"_What_?" She gaped at him incredulously. "_No, _I wasn't-" She paused, her eyes flicking down the path where she could still barely make out the tall blonde's jogging figure.

_Ok, well, maybe just a little tiny bit—_

Puck, _bless him_, saw right through her.

"But…" he was studying her carefully, his features suddenly eerily serious. "But you were… you were totally enjoying it."

_If it were someone__ else, though—_

She caught the look of shocked comprehension that flickered across the boy's face.

_Ididnotjustsaythatoutloud… Ididnotjustsaythatoutloud… Ididnotjustsaythatoutloud—_

He slowly held a palm up as a teasing smile began to form on his lips. "Waaaaaaitaminute-"

_Oh g-d…_

"Holy. Shit. Berry-"

_Oh heaven help me— this isn't happening._

"You're crushing on _someone_ at McKinley, aren't you?" he had leaned forward in anticipation and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Who is it? Who's the lucky… _lady_, Rach_?_"

_Oh fuck! Fuckfuckfuckityfuck!_

"Wh-what-?"

"Come on—you can tell Uncle Puck-"

There was a sudden burst of playful giggling from a distance.

_Oh, thank g-d—_

True to form, Puck glanced around towards the source of the sound. His face lit up in recognition. "Oh hey look, it's the Unholy Trinity-"

"The _what_?-" slightly puzzled, she craned her neck to where Puck was looking at.

Santana, Brittany and Quinn were walking up to a bench a little further up the trail.

Quinn.

_Holy Sweet Barbra!_

Puck turned back around to face her. "Hey, let's go over and say hi," he beamed and stood up. "We'll talk about _this_ later."

_Crap! No!_

"No!" she exclaimed without thinking, hand shooting out to clutch at the hem of the boy's shirt. She immediately realized her gaffe when she looked up at him; he was watching her closely, an eyebrow arched in bemusement.

She stared back at him, mouth opening and closing foolishly, while she tried to fabricate a convincing reason as to _why _she wouldn't want to go over to where the three girls were lounging on the park bench. "I mean… over _there_?"

"Yes, Berry, over _there_." He tilted his head in the direction of the three girls.

"But… well… we don't really have to, you know…" she tried to say as nonchalantly as she could- painfully aware of how tongue-tied she sounded. And that her cheeks were beginning to flush.

Puck's brows knotted in slight confusion. "Why not? I thought you guys were getting along—"

"We were," she said quickly. "I mean we _are. _But… they might be discussing something, you know, _important- _we wouldn't want to intrude…"

The boy chortled as he leaned over to take the dog leash from her. "What the hell would they be talking about that's so _important_?"

She shrugged helplessly. Behind Puck she could make out Brittany looking over. Abruptly, she ducked back down, hoping the boy's wide frame hid her from sight. "I don't know," she hissed, "_world domination_, perhaps? How would I know…?"

* * *

"Oh, look!" Brittany exclaimed excitedly. "I see Rachel over there!"

Quinn froze in her seat as she fought the urge to look over. She had actually zeroed in on her on their way over to the bench.

_Play it cool, Fabray. You're cool. You're cool._

"Oh… nope," the taller blonde tsked, "I don't see her anymore…"

Santana sipped her coffee quietly next to her with a smug little smile on her face.

"Oh! Wait! There she is again! Puck was like, hiding her… Oh, oh, oh! She's getting up!"

_Shit._

She self-consciously straightened her shirt a bit. She didn't really want to seem overly eager. But her heart was pounding a mile a minute and- "Are they… are they coming over?-"

"Uhm…no," Brittany pouted, slightly dejected. "She's leading Puck away."

She finally raised her eyes to look in the direction of where the brunette had been and found her pulling a confounded looking Puckerman by the arm.

_Well there goes my morning—_

"So Quinn," Santana, smirking, had leaned back against the bench, "I can't wait to hear about your plans for the rest of the day—"

"Shut it, Lopez."

* * *

_Cop-out._

Rachel blew her bangs from her eyes as she tried to get comfortable in the front seat of Noah's truck.

"Cop-out," the boy mumbled next to her as they turned into her street. She pursed her lips tightly and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. It freaks her out how Noah seems to know her all too well.

A little too well.

They screeched to a stop in front of her house and as she unbuckled herself, Noah poked her shoulder. Turning towards him, she found him quietly observing her.

"It's cool, Berry, I get it," he shrugged as his brows furrowed a little, "I think."

"I… I don't-"

He was again watching her closely and she fought from squirming under the intensity of his gaze.

"Yeah," he nodded, almost to himself. "I think I get it."

"Get what?" She gulped, fearing his answer.

He flashed her a winning smile in return. "Bro Tip Number 295: Make shit happen. There are enough obstacles out there for you to not have to hold yourself back as well."

Her eyes narrowed in slight confusion over his words.

_Did he really just say that? _

She slowly climbed out of the truck and as she closed the door, she threw him a frustrated glare. "What does _that_ even mean?"

*o*o*o*

On Monday afternoon, she was a few feet away from her Jeep when she heard the intro of the Rocky theme blare from a nearby car speaker. She found Finn kneading Sam's shoulders as the blonde boy craned his neck side to side and jogged slightly in place.

She stopped next to her vehicle's door to lean against it as she motioned to them with her hand. "Do I even wanna know?"

"Today's the day, Rachel," Finn grinned at her. He stopped kneading to thump Sam's chest a couple of times. "Today, my boy here will ask the Queen Bee out. History will be made."

_Shit._

In her Quinn-induced daze, she had inadvertently forgotten about that tiny, little, minute detail: Sam wanted Quinn as well.

_Well… this sucks—_

"I'm asking her out, Rach," Sam had a look of firm determination on his face. "It's now or never."

_Uhm… How about never?_

Her mind reeled as she flattened her back against the door of the Jeep, ignoring the harsh coldness of its steel surface.

If Sam asked Quinn out, wouldn't she say yes?

There was a moment, out on the field, not too long ago, when she personally witnessed how Quinn had blatantly flirted with her friend—

_Oh dear g-d… _

_Sam… _

_Friend—_

"Quinn would have to be stupid to agree to go out with you," Puck's voice broke through her distressing reverie. The mohawked boy leaned against the Jeep next to her.

"She was stupid enough to go out with _you_-" Sam shot back as he shrugged Finn's hands off of his shoulders.

"Don't call her stupid," she snarled at both of them with a little more venom than she had intended.

There was a moment of pause; Sam was glancing nervously at her, Puck had an unreadable expression on his face, and Finn just looked downright confused.

"Right. She's right," Finn finally interjected. "Don't call her stupid. It's… It's not nice."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"So let's go over this again." Finn thumped Sam's back. "They should be done with their showers right about now. Did you give Santana the Breadsticks voucher this morning?" The blonde boy nodded. "Good, they should be halfway over there right about now. Do you have the flower?" Sam fished inside his backpack and drew out a single rose. "Awesome. Now just go by the script we worked on and you'll be ok. Wait-"

He reached into his glove compartment and, with a flourish, handed Sam a bottle of aftershave. She watched in distaste as Sam slapped some of it on his cheeks.

_God that putrid smell—_

Finn glanced at his watch. "Five o'clock, Quinn should be heading out of the locker room any minute now. Let's go!"

*o*o*o*

Finn yanked her behind a row of lockers and pushed her to a crouching position. Why she agreed to be dragged into this undertaking, she will never understand. Perhaps it's the masochistic need to witness Quinn accept Sam's invitation- not unlike the feeling you get when watching a train wreck: you know you need to look away but you just can't. And as they simultaneously peered around the edge to watch Sam approach Quinn by her locker, she heard the blonde boy clear his throat—and she gulped down the massive lump in hers and waited.

"Hi, Quinn-" Finn whispered next to her, as if he was reading from a script.

Sam ran his hands through his hair and smiled shyly at Quinn. "Hi, Quinn!"

_Hoo boy—_

* * *

Quinn slammed her locker shut and turned around at the sound of Sam Evans' voice. Her eyebrows rose in acknowledgement, "Evans."

She took a discreet step back as the horrible stench of his aftershave assaulted her senses.

"You look really pretty today," the blonde boy smiled at her.

_Ok what is he up to?_

"Thank you?"

"Here," Sam held the rose out, "this is for you."

"Oh." She glanced at the flower briefly before taking it. "Thanks."

"Listen, Quinn-" the boy shoved his hands in his front pockets. "I was wondering if you might wanna hang out sometime."

_What? Why?_

She stared wordlessly back at him.

"Uhm, I was thinking, maybe, you know…" Sam pushed through. "… If I can take you out on Saturday?"

* * *

The barbecue was this Saturday.

Rachel felt her chest constrict painfully.

_No—_

"Oh," the other girl appeared to think it over.

_Oh here it comes…_

"Come on, come on, come on-" Finn chanted, urging Quinn on.

_Say no, say no, say no…_ She countered.

A few agonizing moments later, Quinn gave Sam a hesitant smile. "I'm sorry. But I've already made plans for the weekend."

_Score!_

She pumped her fist as Finn banged his forehead lightly against the locker and groaned.

"Shit!" The tall boy slapped his hand against his thigh in frustration. "She wasn't supposed to say that."

"Oh…I, uhm… well…" Sam had a decidedly lost look on his face as blood rose to his cheeks.

"Improvise, Evans, come on!" Finn was now gripping the edge of the locker in anticipation.

"Next week, then?" He asked again, hopefully, his pitch rising a little. "Any day next week. I'm flexible."

"Attaboy!"

Quinn gave him a regretful smile. "No. Sorry."

"Fuck," Finn hissed next to her.

"Week after next?" he was bordering on desperate now.

"Sorry," Quinn took another hesitant step away from him. "I'm not… really… interested right now."

"Oh… really? Oh. Well, uh…"

Despite her jubilant mood, she felt a slight twinge of pity for Sam.

She nudged Finn a little too forcefully. "You might wanna get your fighter out of there, Hudson."

"Shit-" Finn mumbled as he pulled himself up and scurried towards the two. With a "Hey, Quinn! Yo Sam we gotta go-" he threw his arms around Sam's shoulders and whisked him away, their figurative tails tucked between their legs.

She watched silently as Quinn glanced down at the rose in her hand with a pensive look gracing her features. She stepped out from behind the locker and leaned against it. At that moment, the blonde looked up and hazel eyes met hers; she was looking at her, like she'd known exactly where she was the whole time.

* * *

Her heart leapt to her throat when Rachel stepped out from behind the lockers; it lodged itself there as the brunette took tentative steps toward her. Questioning brown eyes bore into her hazel ones as Rachel closed the distance between them. Finally, the shorter girl stood a couple feet away from her, hands firmly tucked into the front pockets of her jeans in that way she had always found so ridiculously charming.

"So…" A gentle smile tugged at the corner of the other girl's lips. "Saturday, huh?"

She leaned against her locker door as she twirled the rose with her fingertips. "Yeah."

Rachel scuffed her sole against linoleum floor before propping a shoulder on the locker door next to hers. Quinn's breath hitched at her sudden nearness.

"Hot date?" the quiet question was illuminated by the sparkle in chocolate eyes.

"You bet," she replied just as softly, not wanting to break the spell they have suddenly found themselves in.

Rachel nodded to herself before once again meeting her gaze. "Someone I know?"

She smirked playfully. "Maybe-"

"Someone attractive, I'm sure-"

She flushed. "Indescribably so-"

Rachel's lips twitched. "And talented-"

"And modest," she giggled despite herself. "Definitely modest-"

The brunette chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Someone… _special_, perhaps?"

They stood at a standstill.

She finally pursed her lips before pushing herself away from the locker with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

_Thump-thumpa-thump-thumpa-thump…_

She leaned in a little closer to the other girl as she vainly tried to hear herself speak over the racket in her chest.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea-"

*o*o*o*


End file.
